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THE 



ELEMENTS OF FOKESTRY 



DESIGNED TO AFFORD INFORMATION CONCERNING THE 
PLANTING AND CARE OF FOREST TREES 



rOR ORNAMENT OR PROFIT 



AND GIVING SUGGESTIONS UPON 



THE CREATION AND CARE OF WOODLANDS 



WITH THE VIEW OF SECURING THE GREATEST BENEFIT FOR 

THE LONGEST TIME, PARTICULARLY ADAPTED TO THE 

WANTS AND CONDITIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 



/ 



3 



V 



■f i BY 

"^ ^ ■ fka:n^klii^ b. hough, Ph.d 

Chief of Forestry Division, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
Member of tlie American Philosophical Society, etc. 



V // Or y: 



CINCINNATI 
KOBERT CLAEKE & CO 

1882 



Copyright, 1882, 
By ROBERT CLARKE & CO. 







PREFA^CE, 



In preparing this work, the author has endeavored to 
present, in a concise form, a general outline of the subject 
of Forestry in its most ample relations, without attempting 
to he exhaustive in any thing. Technical details have been 
avoided as far as was thought possible; but in mentioning 
the names of trees and other organic objects, the scientific as 
well as the common names have generally both been used, 
chiefly because the latter are often quite uncertain in their 
application, while the former can never be mistaken when 
rightly applied, and are alike in the scientific literature of 
all languages. In noticing the various subjects embraced, 
care has been taken to mention the economical uses and 
commercial vakies that pertain to them, and in describing 
different methods, a preference lias been stated whenever 
it was thought to lead to best results. 

The engravings in this work are chiefly derived from 
the following sources : Those occupying full pages, and 
showing details of structure of some of the principal 
species of Timber-trees, and the laws of development and 
growth, are from '' Der Wald," by E. A. Rossmassler, an 
approved German author. The engravings showing de- 
tails of wood structure, are chiefly from "Les^Bois," by 
M. M. Dupont and Bouquet de la Grye, and some of the 
illustrations of botanical species are from the *' Guide du 
Forestier," by the latter. The figures of insects, and their 
ravages, are from ^' Les Ravage'urs dcs Forets," by II. de 
la BlancherCi Those of Charcoal Kilns, are from the 
" Journal of the U. S. Asso. Charcoal Iron Workers," and 
those of Charcoal Meilers, from the American edition of 
Svedelius' '' Handbook for Charcoal Burners." A few of 

(iii) 



iv Preface. 

the smaller illustrations of Botanical species are from an 
English work, entitled "Woodland Gleanings," and those 
showing defects in timber, in part from Laslett's '' Timber- 
Trees." Three or four are from Dupuis' "Arbres d' Orne- 
ment" and his " Coniferes de Pleine Terre," and the 
sketches of western conifers and other species, are from 
Prof. J. S. N^ewbcrrj's Report, embraced in Yol. YI, of 
the ''Pacific Railroad Surveys." The remainder are from 
the author's first Report upon Forestry, presented in 1877, 
and published by order of Congress, except some small 
sketches drawn for the present work. 

Wherever the language of an author has been quoted, 
the citations given will generally lead to more extended 
information, and in the absence of references, it is believed 
that the facts and principles here presented will generally 
be found such as are supported by approved experience 
and well established observation. 

Although many special works upon planting, arbori- 
culture, botanical descriptions, and other subjects relating 
to particular departments of Forestry have been issued, at 
various times, this is, so far as we know, the first attempt 
to present, in our language, and in one volume, the sub- 
ject of Forestry in the comprehensive sense that we have 
defined it. It would have been much easier to do this in 
a larger volume, and it was often found a difficult task to 
condense into the space that could bo allowed to the several 
divisions of the subject, all that it was desirable to present 
concerning it. We have endeavored to adapt this work 
to the want of students in Forestry, whether in the class- 
rooms of an institution, or engaged in practical labors; 
and it has been our special aim to present information that 
is applicable to our own conntry, and to those regions 
where tree-planting is most needed, and often most difiS.- 
cult. If it is found to meet this intention, our object will 
be attained. 

Washington, July 1, 1882. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



DEFINITIONS. 

Forestry — Sylviculture — Arboriculture — Sciences involved — Trees — A 
Species — A Genus — A Natural Order — Names used in scientific de- 
scriptions 1-4 

CHAPTER 11. 

OF SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION. EFFECTS CF SLOPE AND ASPECT. 

Composition of Soils — TTumus — Loom — How they afreet the Growths of 
Trees — Silecious, Calcareous, Argillaceous, and Alkaline Soils — Color 
of Soils — Mow affected by underlying Rocks — Preparation for plant- 
ing — Effect of Slope and Aspect — Degrees of Inclination 4-10 

CHAPTER III. 

OF CLIMATE AND METEOROLOGICAL INFLUENCES. 

Definition of Climate — The Atmosphere and its Elements — Oxygen — 
Nitrogen — Carbonic Acid Gas — Aqueous Vapor — Absolute and rela- 
tive Humidity — Effect of Heat and of Cold — Dew — Fogs and Clouds 
— Rains — Effect of Woodlands — Evaporation — Percolation — Tem- 
perature of Soils — Winds — Agency of Water in Vegetation — Effects 
of Frost — Injuries from Snow — The Timber-line — Decline of Fruit- 
production — Ruin from clearing off of Forests — Probable Effects in 
Western Territories 1 0-28 

CHAPTER IV. 

REPRODUCTION FROM SEED. 

The Blossom — Fertilization —Distribution of Tree-seeds — Dispersion by 
Winds, by Animals, by Water — Early-ripening Seeds — Gathering 
and keeping of Seeds, Nuts and Acorns — Germination — Time of 

sowing or planting — Vitalitv of Seeds 28-oG 

(V) 



vi Contents, 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE VARIOUS MODES OF PROPAGATION OF FOREST TREES. 

Seeds planted where the Trees are to grow — Methods employed — 
Planting of Walnut and other Nut-Trees — Soaking of Seeds — Plant- 
ing in Seed-beds and Nurseries — Spring and Fall planting — Propago- 
tion from Cuttings, Layers, and other Methods^Grafting 37-46 

CHAPTER VI. 

plan;ing continued. 
Intervals between Trees — Planting in Rows, in Squares, in Quincunx 
Order — in Triangles — Number of Trees on given Areas — Necessity 
of close planting — Planting of young Trees from the Forests — Plant- 
ing on the Sod — Planting without disturbance of Roots — Transplant- 
ing of large Trees — Disadvantage of planting of too large Size — 
Planting of Rocky Surfaces — Of mulching — Of thinning — Trimming 
and Pruning — Pollards — Removal of outer Bark — Arbor-days. 47-62 

CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF GROWING 

TREES. 

The Buds — The Leaves — The Wood and Bark — The growth of the 
Trunk and Branches — Eccentric Forms of Growth — The Roots — The 
pressure of Sap and its Changes — Autumnal Colors 63-79 

CHAPTER VIII. . 

GENERAL VIEWS IN REGARD TO FORESTRY. 

On the investment of Labor and Capital — Questions of Profit — The 
due Proportion of Woodlands and cultivated Fields — Forest Areas 
in Europe — Resemblances and Contrasts in Timber-Growth — General 
Glance at Forest Resources of United States and Canada — New Eng- 
land, Middle, Southern and Western States — Rocky Mountain Re- 
gion — Pacific Coast — Canada — Great Britain — Alternations of Forest 
Growth 79-91 

CHAPTER IX. 

ACTS OF CONGRESS RELATING TO TIMBER-RIGHTS. 

Timber-culture Acts — Homestead Entry Act — Use of Timber by Rail- 
road Companies — Privileges in certain States and Territories — Sale 
of Timber-lands 91-96 



Contents, vii 



CHAPTER X. 

EUROPEAN PLANS OF FOREST MANAGEMENT. 

Method of Selection — Coppice-growth— Woodlands grown to full Ma- 
turity — European Forest Administrations — Schools of Forestry — 
Planting of Dunes — Reboisement — Checking of Torrents — Covering 
denuded Slopes — Plantations in Scotland 96-113 

CHAPTER XI. 

ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 

Pleasures and Benefits — Home-adornment — Village-Improvement and 
the planting of Waysides — City Parks — Rural Cemeteries — Grounds 
around Public Institutions 113-127 

CHAPTER XII. 

HEDGES, SCREENS AND SHELTER-BELTS. 

Hedges and Screens — Shelter-belts— Planting along Railroads — Plant- 
ing on Russian Steppes 127-137 

CHAPTER XIII. 

CUTTING AND SEASONING OF WOOD. DEFECTS IN TIMBER. 

Proper Time for Cutting — Seasoning of Woods — Shrinkage — Strength 
of Wood with respect to Lines of Growth — Defects of Various 
kinds 137-144 " 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FUEL. CHARCOAL. WOOD-GAS. 

Qualities desirable in Wood for Fuel — Charcoal — Table of Heating 
Qualities of Wood, by Mr. Bull — Modes of making Charcoal — Meilers 
or Coal-pits — Kilns — Red Charcoal — Distilled Products — Illuminat- 
ing Wood-gas 144-154 

CHAPTER XV. 

FOREST FIRES. « 

Their Causes — Prevention — Control 154-159 

CHAPTER XVI. 

PROTECTION FROM OTHER INJURIES THAN FIRES. 

Pasturage of Woodlands — Injuries to Seeds and Seedlings by Wild 
Animals 159-161 



viii Contents, 



CHAPTER XVII. 

INSECT RAVAGES IN WOODLANDS. 

General Statements — Etfect upon Wood-growth — Coleoptera — Orthop- 
tera — Hemiptera — Neuroptera — Lepidoptera — Hymenoptera — Dip- 
tera — Insects that attack the Oaks — Elms — Hickories — Black Wal- 
nuts—Butternuts — Chestnut — Locust — Maples — Cotton woods — Pop- 
lars — Lindens — Birches — Beech — Willows — Pines — Spruces — Firs — 
Hemlocks 161-187 



CHAPTER XVIJL 

PROCESSES FOR INCREASING THE DURABILITY OF TIMBER, OR FOR IMPROVING 

ITS QUALITY. 

General Statements — Causes of Decay — Charring — Immersion in Water 
— Penetration of Liquids, and of Solids in Solution — Oils — Crude 
Petroleum — Salt — Incombustible Wood — Alum — Borax — Lime — 
Processes of Bethell — Boucherie — Burnett — Carey — Ilatsfield — Kyan 
Margary — Payne — Prescott — Robbins — Tait — Thilmany — Re- 
cipes 187-199 

CHAPTER XIX. 

RESINOUS AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF CONIFERS. 

Naval Stores — Turpentine — Spirits of Turpentine — Rosin — Methods of 
Resinage — Economy and Waste — French Methods with the Maritime 
Pine — Tar — Pitch — Lamp-black — Canada Balsam — Essential Oils — 
Perfume from Pine-sap 199-205 

CHAPTER XX. 

USE OF WOOD IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER. 

Mechanical Processes of Volter, Hartmann, Siebricht, etc. — Chemical 
Processes — Cultivation of Poplars for Paper Pulp 205-206 

CHAPTER XXL 

TANNING MATERIALS. 

Supplies from the Oak — Hemlocks, etc. — Tanning Extracts — Manage- 
ment of Oak-Coppices — Peeling by the Aid of Heat — Sumac. 205-210 



Cont' nts. 



IX 



CHAPTER xxir. 

DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR SPECIES. 

Oaks — Chestnuts — Beeches— Birches — Alders — riornbeam — Maples 

Box-Elders — Lindens— Elms— Osage-Orange— Mulberry — Hackberry 
—Tulip-tree— Sycamores— Buckeyes— Soap-berry— Locusts— Coffee- 
tree — Red-bud — Acacias^Yellow-wood — Pears and Apples Crab- 
trees — Plums and Cherries — Thorn-trees — Service-berrj^ — Eucalyptus 
— Eugenias— Cornel Family— Sour-Gum— Elders— Ehiis — Butter- 
bush— Silver-bell— Ashes— Olive— Lilac— Hickories— Black Walnut 

Butternut — Poplars — Cotton woods —Willows — Ailanthus Arbutus 

— Manzinita— Paw-paws — Catalpas — Mountain Mahogany — Persim- 
mon—Burning-Bush— Holly Family— Laurels— Sweet-Gum— Mag- 
nolias — Pride-of-India — Iron-woods — Sorrel-tree — Mesquits — Buck- 
thorns — Sumacs — Sassafras — Buffalo-berry — Mahogany — Arrow- 
wood, etc 210-299 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

THE CONIFERS- 

General Statement and Definitions— Classification — Cypress Family 

Yews— Families not represented in U. S, — Pine Family The Cy- 
presses and White Cedars— The Junipers — Red-Cedars— Bald-Cypress 

— Sequoias — Giant-trees — Redwood — Yews — Torreyas — Ginkgo 

Pines— Spruces— Hemlocks— Douglas Fir — Firs— Larches... 299-345- 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

TRL^E-PLANTIXG IX KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. 

List of Species approved in Kansas, by Counties — Propagation by Cut- 
tings and Native Seedlings— Distances between Trees — Effect of 
Shelter-belts— Locust-trees in Central Kansas— Gathering and Pre-~ 
serving Seeds— Preparation of the Ground— Tree-culture on the 
I*lains , 346-353 



Recent Decision under Timber-culture Act 354 



ELEMENTS OF FORESTRY. 



CHAPTER I. 

DEFINITIONS. 

1. Forestry, in its most compreheDsive sense, is that branch of 
knowledge that treats of woodlands — their formation, mainte- 
nance, and renewal, the influences that may affect their welfare ; 
the methods employed in their management, the removal, prepara- 
tion, and use of their products, and the economies that may be 
gained by skillful operation. 

2. Sylviculture^ is that part of Forestry which relates to the plant- 
ing and cultivation of groves and collective bodies of forest trees. 

3. Arboriculture'^ treats of the cultivation of trees. It is some- 
times limited to the cultivation of fruit-trees, but the term may 
properly be extended to include the planting and care of trees gen- 
erally, whether for fruit, ornament, or other use. 

4. Forestry involves the application of many branches of science : 
(a.) From natural history it derives the description and classifica- 
tion of trees, and of the animal and vegetable life that aflfect their 
welfare. 

(6.) From geology and mineralogy, it learns the origin and com- 
position of soils and sub-soils, and of the rock formations from 
which they are derived, their constituent parts, their permeability, 
and their fitness for the successful growth of particular kinds of 
trees. 

(c.) By the aid of chemistry it determines tlie elements of the 
soil, the composition and changes that take place in the growth and 
decay of wood, the methods that may be used for increasing its du- 
rability or improving its quality, and the various operations con- 
cerned in the production and use of its chemical products. 

(d.') From mathematics it derives aid in all processes of measure- 

(1) From sulca. " a grove." (2) From arbor, "a tree." 

(1) 



2 Definitions. 

ment and calculation concerned in forest lands, materials, manage- 
ment, working, or revenues. 

(e.) From mechanics, it applies the A^arious agencies employed in 
cutting, transporting, and manufacture of wood and timber in every 
form. 

(/.) From physics and meteorology, it determines the various 
questions of atmospheric influence and of climate that may arise, 
whether as cause or effect, and seeks to learn how these may be im- 
proved to best advantage, and, in some cases, controlled. 

(</.) From political economy, it applies the principles that deter- 
mine questions of supply and demand, of public policy, and of 
financial profits, the interests that are involved, and their mutual 
dependence, the laws of trade, as they concern forest products or 
properties, and whatever principles may relate to their creation, 
production, or management. 

5. An intelligent system of Forestry aims to impart knowledge as 
to the conditions best adapted to cultivation, the best methods of 
securing a growth of trees by seeding or planting, the use of meas- 
ures that shall secure their thrifty growths, protection from injuries, 
natural renewal at period of full maturity or time for use, and a 
constant tendency toward improvement of the products. 

6. A Tree, is a plant having a woody root, trunk, and branches. 
We generally apply the term shnib to trees that are less than fifteen 
feet in height at maturity, and the term hui^h to those that grow to 
six feet in height or less. These terms are however arbitrary, in 
their use, and can not be with certainty applied to any species. 

7. Trees may increase from within, as in the case of 2mlms, or by 
the deposit of wood in annual layers under the bark. The former 
have no bark proper, and are called Endogenous, a term signifying 
"growing from within." They are represented in the Southern 
States by the palmetto (Sabcd palmetto) , and a few other species, but 
on account of their slight relative importance as forest trees, they 
will be no further noticed in this work. The latter are termed Ex- 
ogenous, a term signifying " growing from without," and increase by 
the deposit of new layers of wood on the outside, under the bark. 
This great division includes, with the above exception, all of the na- 
tive and naturalized trees of the United States. 

8. A Species, when used in Forestry, is understood to mean a group 
of trees or other plants, resembling in the details of their structure, 



Definitions. 3 

aucl producing the like forms of growth from their seeds. They are 
subject to many variations, due to differences of soil, climate, and 
other causes, and occasionally produce unusual forms in their leaves, 
size and color of flowers, quality of fruit, or habits of growth, which 
are called " sports." In other cases, hybrids will form by cross-fer- 
tilization, the result being a tree that partakes of some of the char- 
acteristics of both species. This is occasionally seen in the oaks and 
the willows, but as a rule the species remain distinct. These devi- 
ations from the normal type may be perpetuated by budding, graft- 
ing, or layers, but when tliey bear fertile seeds, they do not produce 
plants having like peculiarities, and tend to return to their original 
forms. 

9. A Genus, is usually a group of species having common resem- 
blances in the structure of the flowers and fruit, and generally, in 
their leaves and in the habit of growth, such as the pines, maples, 
birches, etc. In some cases, however, a genus may include but one 
species. They are sometimes divided into groups or sub-genera,- 
having some common resemblance, and occasionally these may be 
further arranged into other groups, having common forms or prop- 
erties. Where there are several species in a genus, they may be 
generally grafted upon one another, but in other cases this can only 
be done successfully within the group or sub-genus to which the 
species belong. 

10. A Natural Order, in botany, is a class of trees or plants that 
usually embraces several genera, having a common resemblance in 
the structure of the seed and fruit and in manner of growth, differ- 
ing from all others and constant within itself. These are again 
sometimes divided into sub-orders, families, or groups, depending 
upon a common resemblance, and instances occur in which a natural 
order includes but a single genus. 

11. We have examples of natural orders in the Coniferce, embrac- 
ing the pines, firs, spruces, cedars, junipers, etc., and in the Legiim- 
inosoe, or bean-like fruited plants, which include, among trees, the 
locusts, honey-locusts, acacias, Kentucky coffee-tree, and many 
others. 

12. The description and classification of orders, genera, and 
species among trees form a part of the province of botany, and will 
not be attempted in this work. In mentioning the common names 



4 Of Soils, etc. — Humus. — Muck. 

of trees, we shall generally give with them their scientific or botani- 
cal names, as a means for more exact designation. 

13. The common names are very uncertain, and may in one re- 
gion be applied to species very unlike those where they are used in 
another. But the scientific names, rightly applied, are exactly un- 
derstood in every language in which the sciences are taught, and 
can not be mistaken for any others. They are very generally de- 
rived from Greek or Latin words, expressing some quality or char- 
acter in the genus or species to which they are applied. The generic 
name is more commonly derived from the Greek, and the specific 
name from the Latin. The former always begins with a capital let- 
ter — the latter only when it is derived from a proper noun. Where 
a number of species are mentioned in succession, the initial letter 
only of the genus will be used after the first one, as Plnus strobus, 
P. mitk, P. rigida, etc. 

CHAPTER 11. 

OF SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION — EFFECTS OF SLOPE AND ASPECT. 

14. The soil or loose material that generally covers the surface of 
the earth to a greater or less depth, partakes in a large degree of 
the chemical character of the rock formations from Avhich it has 
been derived. These may be the subjacent rocks, or the material 
may have been transported by former geological agencies, as in 
"drift," or deposited by those now in action, as in alluvial mud, 
or littoral sands. 

15. Besides these mineral components, the soil generally contains 
more or less organic material, derived from vegetation, or, to slight 
extent, from animal life. In the native forests, this *' vegetable soil " 
has been mostly created by the trees and herbage, from materials 
taken up in solution by the roots from the soil, and absorbed by the 
leaves from the air, and has gradually accumulated from the decay 
of the leaves, or of the trees and plants themselves. 

16. This organic material is called humus, and its quality and 
amount depends upon the kind and quantity that has been allowed 
to decompose. It is sometimes known as " vegetable mold," and 
has no definite chemical composition, but contains Humic acid 
(C, oH^oGg), and various other organic compounds. When vege- 
tation decays in moist places, as in swamps, it forms mtick, and 



Peat. — Loam. — Functions of the Roots, 5 

in some situations iieat. These vary considerably in composition, 
and the latter contains so large an amount of carbon that it is used 
profitably as a fuel. The former, when mixed witli animal manures, 
and the latter, when its acidity has been neutralized by lime or al- 
kalies, become valuable as fertilizers. Both humus and peat ab- 
sorb water with avidity, and retain it with tenacity. It is partly 
on this account that vegetable mold, when mixed with other soils, 
tends to impart fertility by retaining moisture within the reach of 
vegetation. 

17. The terra Loam is attached to a class of soils composed of 
different earthy materials of dissimilar particles, not easily ductile, 
readily diffused when thrown into water, and easily penetrated by 
the roots of trees and other plants. A mixture of humus renders it 
porous and fertile, and in a forest, this fertility tends constantly to 
increase, and hence the growth of trees is one of the best means for 
restoring exhausted soils. 

18. The soil has an influence upon the growth of trees in two 
ways: it gives them uipport, and it furnishes them with nourishment. 
In order to give support, the soil should be permeable by the roots, 
without being too tenacious to resist their extension, nor too light to 
hold them. In nursery i:)lantations, the proper qualities may be se- 
cured by artificial mixture of materials, but except in a very small 
degree, we can not modify them, and must seek to improve by the 
choice of species, the conditions as we find them. 

19. As the roots of trees penetrate much deeper into the soil than 
those of agricultural plants, the welfare of w^oodlands often depends 
much upon the depth and character of the sub-soil, as is observed 
in the "Laudes" of south-western France, where a vigorous and 
profitable growth of trees is obtained upon lands that are almost 
utterly barren for cultivation in farm crops. In other cases, as in 
flat limestone districts, the surface soil may be too thin for cultiva- 
tion, while in the fissures there is sufficient soil for supplying the roots 
of trees. These roots, wdien they decay, besides leaving the organic 
material of which they were composed, also leave open passages 
penetrating deeply into the soil, and affording opportunities for 
drainage. These may become filled in with mold from the surface, 
and thus they in some degree assist in rendering the soil fertile to a 
greater depth than would be possible from the simple deposit of or- 
ganic materials upon the surface. 



6 Classijicatton of Soils. 

20. The state of division of the soil, as to whether coarse or fine, 
has also an important influence, especially with reference to its per- 
meability by water, its drainage, and the like. Upon these proper- 
ties, and the organic materials, in connection with the local climate, 
the fertility of a given soil may be said to depend. 

21. It matters not \vhat the chemical or physical properties of the 
soil may be, it will remain unproductive unless there be seasonable 
and sufficient rains, or their equivalent supplied by irrigation, and 
unless the conditions of tem2:)erature be consistent with vegetable 
growth. 

22. Although soils present infinite variety in their constituent 
parts, they may be classed under four principal divisions, viz.: si- 
liceous, calcareous, argillaceous, and alkaline. 

23. In siliceous soils, the principal constituent is gravel or sand, 
composed of silex or quartz, more or less finely divided, and nearly 
or quite destitute of the power of absorbing of retaining water, un- 
less underlaid by a retentive sub-soil, or unless it is but moderately 
above the level of a standing water, from which, by capillary attrac- 
tion, its moisture may be drawn. 

24. In calcareous soils, the carbonate of lime is found, either from 
the decomposition of limestones, or from marls of more recent or- 
ganic origin. Such soils have the property of absorbing and retain- 
ing moisture in a high degree, but, although saturated they do not 
become impenetrable to the air, and Avhen turned up and exposed 
to its action they fall to dust, and this the more readily when as- 
sisted by frost. They will effervesce w'hen thrown into acids, and 
this affords a convenient, but not absolute test. 

25. In argillaceous soils, the silicate of alumina, in the form of clay, 
forms the principal ingredient. These soils have a strong afiinity 
for water, and hold it with great tenacity ; yet, wdien exposed to 
solar heat, they crack into deep fissures in times of drouth. The 
water that falls ui:)on clay soils does not penetrate, and they often af- 
ford much resistance to the roots of plants. 

2C). In alkaline soils, the soluble salts of soda are in excess. Where 
these soils occur, there is a noted deficiency in the rain fall, and a 
marked sterility from this cause, for the excess of alkali appears 
principally due to the want of moisture for dissolving it out and car- 
rying it away. When such soils are irrigated, they become fertile, 
and improve as the excess of alkali is reduced. A lime-like deposit 



Characteristics of Soils. 7 

is found in hollow places where this soil prevails, and the sage-bush 
(Artemisia trideutata) and grease-wood (^Sarcohatus vermiculatus) form 
the principal vegetation, 

27. Although none of these soils can alone be called fertile, their 
proper mixture, and especially of the first three, with humus, af- 
fords conditions highly favorable to success. 

28. Besides the qualities resulting from their chemical composi- 
tion, and their relations to moisture, soils differ greatly in their ca- 
pacity for absorbing, retaining, and radiating heat. A soil covered 
with siliceous pebbles retains the heat better than fine sand, and 
hence it is one of the circumstances that favor the growth of the 
vine. In the wine districts of France, differences in the time of 
maturing the fruit have been traced directly to this cause. A sandy 
soil radiates heat very readily in clear summer nights, and frosts in- 
jurious to vegetation are more apt to occur upon these soils, where 
exposed. 

29. The color of a soil has much effect in determining absorption 
of solar heat. If dark colored, it becomes warm sooner and to a 
greater depth and degree than if light. 

30. The character of the underlying rock itself has also its influ- 
ence upon the growth of plants and trees. If siliceous and solid, 
their roots get no nourishment and no hold. If friable and com- 
posed of mineral elements that may be taken up in solution by the 
roots, their fibers will insinuate themselves into the fissures and as- 
sist the disintegration, especially where moisture is present, and 
where the frost can act. This operation takes place more readily 
where tlie rock is stratified in thin layers that are highly inclined. 

31. It is a fact fixniiliar to geologists that certain forms of vege- 
tation, and especially of trees, are characteristic of the rock forma- 
tion that underlies them. We liave examples of this in shales rich 
with potash, that are congenial to the elms. A limestone soil is 
favorable to the maples but not to the pines, while the latter flour- 
ish best on siliceous soils, if suitably mixed with other ingredients. 
A line of outcrop of some rock formation upon a hillside may be 
made known in some cases conspicuously by the color of the foliage 
of the trees that grow upon it, especially when they are colored in 
autumn or remain green in winter. 

32. The soil upon a sloping surface is generally deeper, more hu- 
mid, and richer near the foot, and tends gradually to become thin, 



8 Of the jyreparation of Soils. 

dry, and sterile toward the top. These differences become greater 
as the incHnation is more steep. Upon such slopes, it becomes 
highly important that the surface should be covered with vegetation 
and consolidated by its roots. There is no growth so favorable for 
this purpose as that of trees, and elsewhere we ^^ill notice the disiis- 
trous results that have followed from their clearing off upon steep 
mountain sides. In some cases, the damage is beyond remedy, 
while in others it may be arrested and utility restored. 

Of the prejjaration of the Soil for sowing or planting Forest Trees. 

33. In preparing land for a grove or woodland, the soil should be 
thoroughly mellowed by previous working or cultivation. Upon 
new prairie land there is but little chance of success in starting a 
successful growth of trees until the sod has been turned over and 
thoroughly rotted. This can best be done by cultivating at least 
one or two years previously with some farm crop. 

34. The first breaking up of the sod can only be done to advan- 
tage in the season when vegetation is most active, and it varies 
somewhat in different years and in different localities. It may be 
generally said to last through the month of June, and it sometimes 
may continue longer. Toward the latter part of summer and in 
autumn, the soil is too dry and hard for breaking up, and the herb- 
age does not so readily decompose. The first furrows must be broad 
and thin. The subsequent plowing should be deeper, and the soil 
should be rendered perfectly mellow by harrowing. 

35. For windbreaks and hedges, this preliminary work may be in 
the line of proposed planting, and at least four feet wider than the 
intended borders. 

36. In the planting of trees for avenues, the soil near the surface, 
which is generally more fertile, should be placed by itself, and this 
should be the first that is used in covering the roots. In hard clay 
soils, there is an advantage in preparing the holes in autumn, and 
leaving them to the action of the air and the frost through the win- 
ter, in readiness f >r the next spring. 

37. It is sometimes necessary, and often advantageous, to fertilize 
at the time of planting, and the best material that can be used is 
well-rotted leaf-mold from tlie woods. It may be first mixed with 
tjie soil that is spread next to the roots. Where stable manure is 
used, it should be placed near, but not in contact with the roots, or it 



Slope and Aspect. — Northern and Eastern Aspects. 9 

should be used as a top-dressing. In the common practice of for- 
estry, and at present prices of labor and of timber, we can not usu- 
ally do more than to sow or plant the species that appear to be best 
suited to the conditions, and we can only fertilize in nurseries and 
special plantations. It is not improbable that methods of tertiliza- 
tion upon an extensive scale may hereafter be employed in forest 
planting, and with profitable results. 

Of the Slope and Aspect of Surface, and their Effect upon Tree Growth. 

38. The slope of a surface is sometimes mentioned in degrees of 
the angle that it rises above the level. It may be called a gentle slope, 
if under 10°; somewhat steep, if from 10° to 20°; steep, if from 20° 
to 34°; and very steep, if from 35° to 45°. 

39. The aspect or direction of a slope is found uo have a percep- 
tible, and often a notable influence upon tree growth, and this effect 
is greater in proportion to the extent of surface. Upon isolated 
swells of land and small hills, it might be scarcely noticed, but ou 
the opposite sides of mountain ranges, or in mountain valleys, it 
may be very great. 

40. A northern aspect receives no full sunlight, or its rays fall 
obliquely in the morning or toward evening, according to the angle 
of elevation. The winds are colder and dryer, but in the growing 
season generally not strong. The soil retains moisture, and the 
growth is often rapid. The trees retain their regular shape, and the 
wood is softer, not as strong, but generally well adapted to manu- 
facture. As vegetation is a little delayed, the spring frosts are not 
so apt to do harm, but from the late and imperfect hardening of the 
new wood, the frosts of winter may do injury. As the snows lie longer 
on these slopes, the forests are benefited by their delaying the 
growth in the first uncertain warm days of spring, and by the moist- 
ure that they retain. The starting of forests by seeding is more 
easily secured on a north slope than any other, and it is only upon this 
slope that forest-tree seeds are sown upon the damp snows in start- 
ing mountain forests. 

41. An eastern aspect receives the sun in the cool morning hours, 
when the temperature and light are moderate. The winds in our 
Atlantic States are often damp, especially in winter. The soil re- 
tains its moisture fiiirly. Timber grows well, and acquires medium 
qualities that adapt it to the greatest variety of uses. 



10 Southern and Western Asj^ects. 

42. A southern aspect receives both the heat and light with great- 
est intensity, and is more liable to winds and storms, and the soil to 
erosion from rains, than any other. The trees, on the whole, are of 
slower growth, owing to deficient moisture, and are less regular in 
form, but the wood is firm, heavy, and strong, well adapted to all 
uses where these qualities are required. Seeding can seldom be se- 
cured on a steep southern aspect in a Avarni, dry climate, and trees 
must be set from nurseries and attended with greater care. The 
south side of a mountain is much more likely to be bare than any 
other, every thing else being equal. 

43. A western aspect receives the sun obliquely, but in the warm- 
est part of the day, and in our Western States, vegetation is most 
exposed on these slopes to drying winds. The soil is apt to become 
dry, and timber is therefore of slower growth and less regular in 
form, but in the main good. 

44. These differences from aspect are more noticeable in elevated 
regions than in low grounds, and they depend in degree more or less 
upon the nature of the soil, and local climatic influences that may 
determine the direction of the surface winds, or otherwise affect the 
location. 

45. The degree of inclination has also a notable influence upon 
vegetation, and on the action of rains upon the surface. If less 
than one in six, the conditions are generally good. From this to 
one in three, agricultural cultivation becomes difficult, and the sur- 
face is liable to wash ; still, the roots of trees can find a hold, and, 
if they can get deep into tlie soil, forests will prosper. At still 
greater angles, cultivation becomes difficult without terracing, and 
the dangers from erosion become greater. Upon such extreme 
slopes, pasturage is apt to cause great injuries by destroying the 
herbage and allowing the soil to wash into the valleys. The true 
policy should be to keep them covered with woodlands, if possible, 
and to clear by selection, never exposing the whole surface at once. 

CHAPTER III. 

OF CLIMATE AND METEOROLOGICAL INFLUENCES. 

46. We understand by climate, the atmospheric conditions of a 
given region, resulting from its latitude, elevation, temperature, 



The Atmosphere and Us Elements. 11 

humidity, amount and distribution of its rains, character and force 
of the winds, intensity of light, and other general or local causes. 

The Atmosjjhere and its Elements. 

47. The atmosphere from which the trees, throagh their foliage, 
derive a part of their aliment, and to which they return certain 
gaseous elements in the process of growth, consists of about one 
part of oxygen to four parts of nitrogen by volume. It always 
contains, besides these, a nearly constant ^^rop^^rtion of carbonic 
acid gas, and a variable amount of aqueous A^apor. 

48. Oxygen. This gas is necessary to the existence of all animal 
and vegetable life, and to combustion, respiration, fermentation, and 
many other processes of nature. It has a wide range of affinities, 
and forms a part of all organic and most mineral compounds. It 
is absorbed or disengaged in various operations of tree-growth, and, 
under certain conditions, it hastens decay. 

49. Nitrogen. This gas has a comparatively small range of affini- 
ties, and in the air appears to dilute and moderate the action of 
oxygen. Of itself, it does not sustain life. It forms a part of 
some vegetables and of all animals, and, combined with hydrogen in 
the proportion of 1 to 3 (NH3), it forms ammonia, which acts an 
important jiart in the vegetation of trees, as well as of the culti- 
vated grains. 

50. Carbonic Acid Gas. This is a compound made up of 2 atoms 
of oxygen to 1 of carbon (CO2, or 72.73 of oxygen to 27.27 of 
carbon by weight). It has been estimated tliat this gas forms one 
thousandth part of the atmosphere, but recent experiments show that 
the proportion is less, ranging from two and a half to four ten- 
thousandtlis, or even less. It is very uniform, yet is sliglitly varied 
by local influences, being increased by combustion, respiration, and 
other causes. 

51. It is from carbonic acid gas, either in the air or in the water 
taken up by the roots, that trees obtain the carbon that makes their 
principal bulk. This gas was probably more abundant in former 
times, as in the carboniferous period, since mineral coals are largely 
made up of carbon. It also forms a part of all limestones and 
marls, and of many minerals and ores. There is no evidence that 
the proportion in the air has changed within the period of human 
history. 



12 Aqueous Vapor. — Dew Point. — Absolute Humidity. 

52. Aqueous Vapor. The proportion of watery vapor in the air 
has a most important influence upon tree growth, and where the 
amount is small, their cultivation becomes difficult or impossible. 

53. Water, when exposed, will slowly evaporate, the rate being 
greater at a high temperature and in a dry air. It is still greater 
when ihere is a wind passing over the surface, carrying off the va- 
por and bringing dry air in its place. 

54. Aqueous vapor is always present in the air, although it may 
be imperceptible to our senses. There is, however, a limit, above 
which the excess becomes visible as fog or cloud, and falls as dew or 
rain. If the temperature falls below the freezing point, the dew be- 
comes hoar frosty and the rain becomes snow. 

55. The degree of temperature at which condensation begins is 
called the dew point. It may be ascertained by cooling down water 
in a bright and thin metallic cup until dew begins to form on the 
outside. 

56. The humidity of the atmosphere is usually ascertained by the 
psychroineter, which consists of tw^o similar thermometers set a few 
inches apart, one of them having the bulb covered with white mus- 
lin cloth, which is wet before an observation is taken. The wet 
bulb is gently fanned till the temperature goes down to a stationary 
point, and then both thermometers are read. By the aid of tables 
that have been computed for this purpose, we may very easily ob- 
tain from the temperature of the dry bulb instrument, and the dif- 
ference between that and the wet bulb, two separate statements con- 
cerning the moisture present in tlie air, viz.: the absolute and the 
relative humidity. « 

57. The Absolute Humidity is the elastic force or tension of the 
vapor, as w^ould be shown in its raising a column of mercury in a 
guage, and is usually given in decimal parts of an English inch. 
With a given difference between wet and dry bulb thermometers, 
it increases with the temperature, being greatest when the weather 
is warmest, as shown by Diagram 1. We see, for example, that at 
90° it is 1.3 inches, the difference between thermometers being 10°, 
while it is but 0.3 at 55°, and but a little over 0.1 at 40°. The 
rate gains rapidly at high temperatures, and above the boiling point 
it becomes the power of steam. 

58. As observed in a very warm atmosphere, there may be an 
abundance of moisture present in the air and no rain. At a fixed 



Absolute and Relative Humidity. 



13 



temperature, the amount is 
and dry bulbs is greatest, 
aud it increases as these dif- 
ferences become less, as we 
see by Diagram 2, where 
the lines descend from left 
to right. The rate of de- 
scent is similar at different 
temperatures, as we see the 
descending lines are parallel, 
but they become nearer to- 
gether as the temperature is 
less. In this diagram, the 
degrees on the oblique lines 
are those of temperature in 
the open air. If we meas- 
ure the vertical distances be- 
tween these oblique lines, we 
would have a series of num- 
bers increasing at a gaining 
rate, which might be shown 
by a curve something like 
those of the preceding figure. 
59. The Relative limnid- 
ity. This is the iiercerdage 
of saturation, 100 being com- 
plete saturation, as in a fog 
(when the air can hold no 
more moisture in invisible 
form), and being com- 
plete dryness. In our cli- 
mate, we never find the air 
absolutely dry without arti- 
ficial means. The degree of 
relative humidity also de- 
pends on the temperature, 
and with a given distance 
between wet aud dry bulbs, 
it is greatest at high temper- 



least when the difference between wet 



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14 



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atures. The rate of increase forms a curve, as shown in the diagram 

annexed, but increasing in 
percentage more sloAvly as 
tlie temperature is high. 
These curves are higher 
when the wet and dry bulb 
thermometers are nearer 
alike, and grow smaller at a 
regularly decreasing rate as 
the differences between in- 
struments increase. 

60. At all temperatures, 
the relative humidity dimin- 
ishes in percentage as the 
difference between the in- 
struments increases, as we 
see by the descending curves 
in Figure 4, but not at nni- 

3. Relative Humidity at diflferent Tempera- form rates, as WC SCO that 
tures the diffeience between wet and dry Bulbs ,, ,. rni 

being constant. these lines are curves. Ihe 

degrees marked on these 
curves from 0° to 100° are 
those of temperature in the 
open air.^ 

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from which this and the preced- 
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fessor Guj'ot, and published by 
the Smithsonian Institution for 
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time when the former system 
of voluntary meteorological ob- 
servation was in operation. The 
limits of this volume do not ad- 
mit of their insertion in detail, 
nor of a statement of the 

principles upon which they are 
4. Kolative Ilnmiditv at fixed Temperatures, , , 
the difference between wet and dry Bulbs being uaaca. 
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61. The absolute humidity of the atmosphere is much greatest in 
summer, reaching its maxi- 
mum iu July or August (0.5 
to O.G inches), and its mini- 
mum in December (0.1 or a 
little higher). The relative 
humidity follows a different 
law, and through a much 
less range. It ranges from 
75 to 80 per cent in winter 
in the Atlantic States, de- 
scends to the lowest (about 
65 per cent, on the general 
average) in May, rises to 
about 70 to 75 in the sum- 
mer months, and a little 
higher in winter. These 
ranges of absolute and rela- 

+ i\ra l-inmirlifAr +ol-on fi-rvr.-! '^- Absolute Humidity at three American Sta- 
iive nummiiy, laivCU Iiom t,Y„-,g through the several Months, for a Series of 

the mean of many years' ob- ^ ^'^^'^' 
servation at the Magnetic 
and Meteorological Observa- 
tory at Toronto, in Canada, 
and at the State Asrricult- 
ural Colleges at Orono, in 
Maine, and at Lansing, in 



Michigan, are shown by the 
accompanying engravings. 

Effects of Heat and of Cold 
upon the Volume of Air. 

62. It is a rule that heat 
tends to expand all bodies, 
whether solid, liquid, or gas- 
eous, and that cooling tends 
to reduce their volume. 

63. When any substance 
expands, it absorbs "latent 





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6. Relative Humidity at three American Sta- 



U^^.*- " J 1 II tions throutjh the several Months, for a Series of 

heat, and becomes colder. Years. 



16 Dew Point: Fogs and Clouds. 

Condensation has the opposite effect, and the substance condensed 
becomes ^varm. It is by many astronomers believed that the sun's 
heat is caused by the condensation of gases going on upon or within 
its surface. Evaporation, or the passing of a liquid into gaseous 
form, is notably an expanding, and consequently a cooling process. 
The leaves of trees in the growing season evaporate abundantly, 
and hence the coolness of groves in summer. The condensation of 
vapors in the form of dew or rain, is ahvays the effect of a cooling 
down of the atmosphere to below the Deiv Point [§ 55], and is al- 
ways attended with a diminution in the previous volume of the air 
from which it forms. 

64. De%L\ is the moisture deposited from the air when cooled at 
nio-ht by the radiation of heat from the earth's surface. It can only 
occur when the temperature is reduced to the "dew point," and is 
greatest in still clear nights. When covered with clouds, the radi- 
ations of heat are returned to the earth. The same effect is often 
seen immediately under a tree, which will remain dry, while all 
around it the dew on the grass may be heavy. This shows that the 
air under the tree has been a little warmer than in the open space 
around it, and that the general percentage of moisture in the air is 
relatively high. 

65. On the contrary, we sometimes see the grass, boards, etc., 
under a tree wet with the dew, when the ground around it is dry. 
This occurs from the greater humidity of tlie air under the tree, in 
consequence of the evaporation of its foliage, and is seen only in 
a calm night, when the general humidity of the air is Jess. These 
effects are sometimes seen where a plank walk extends along under 
an avenue of large trees standing widely apart. The open portions 
mav be white with hoar-frost (frozen dew), while the parts covered 
by the trees are bare, or the sheltered portions may be wet, as if 
rained upon, while the open spaces are dry. 

66. Focjs and Clouds, are formed only when the air is at or below 
the dew point, showing that it can hold the moisture no longer, 
and the excess becomes visible, and may, in certain cases, descend 
as rain. They show a reduced temperature, and common summer 
clouds are often formed by the unequal heating of a portion of the 
earth's surface by the sun. 

67. The air in contact with these heated portions expands, and, 
becomiug lighter, rises — the air from surrounding spaces coming in 



Hains : Effect of Woodlands Stated. 17 

to supply its place. An upward current is thus formed, and the air 
rising and cooling finally comes to the dew point, and the moisture 
becomes visible as cloud. A column of smoke from a burning 
clearing will sometimes thus form a cloud, and may cause rain. 

68. A country interspersed with groves of trees, presents contrasts 
in heating tendencies favorable to the formation of these upward 
currents of the air. Broad areas of cloud passing over a great ex- 
tent of country, and usually accompanied by a low barometer, are 
due to more general causes, but always show a reduction of temper- 
ature in the region where they form. 

69. Rains, are caused by a condensation of moisture from cooling 
below the dew point. The success of forest growth depends largely 
upon their amount and their seasonable distribution throughout the 
year, and especially their occurrence when vegetation is most active, 
and when the new layer of wood for the season is forming. 

70. A rain guage on the ground will collect in a year more rain 
than one on the roof of a house, and the latter more than one on a 
high toAver. Currents of air may tend to cause this difference in 
part, but it seems to show that the rain-drops gather in size as they 
descend. 

71. On the contrary, in a dry time, we sometimes see filaments 
of rain descending from a cloud, which dry up and disappear in the 
warm air below without reaching the ground. When such clouds 
pass over large bodies of woodland, where the temperature is cooler 
an;] the air more moist, these filaments extend down and aflford a 
shower of rain, but dry up again as they come to the warm air of 
the fields beyond. Applying these principles of humidity and tem- 
perature to Forestry, let us consider what effect a woodland can have 
upon them : 

72. In the growing season, there is a vast amount of evaporation 
going on from the foliage of trees, the moisture being deriv^ed from 
the soil. This evaporation is a cooling process, and as it both in- 
creases the amount of moisture, while it reduces the temperature, 
it tends to bring the air to the dew j^oint; in other words, to the 
condition favoring the formation of dews and rain. In the nicely 
balanced state of the atmosphere that we often find in summer, thid 
change may sometimes be the turning point that decides between 
rain and drouth. 



18 Effect of Woodlamh : Water Supply. 

73. It has been found, maoy times, that Avhere the trees and 
huslies are cleared away from large areas of rocky suriace, the re- 
gion begins to suffer from drouth. The rocks being heated by the 
sun, remain "svarm in the night, and the rain-clouds, Avhich, in pass- 
ing over the wooded surface, formerly condensed in gentle showers, 
now dry up, upon coming to the heated air, and perhaps yield a co- 
pious rainfall, over a better-wooded district beyond. These effects 
are more apparent where the clearings have been extended over 
considerable areas, and they could with certainty be overcome by 
allowing the rocks to be again clothed with a growth of trees. 

74. The effect of Wooellands vpon the Bain that fills upon them may 
next be considered. Admitting that the amount of rain that falls 
upon the w^oods is the same as that in adjacent fields, it is evident 
that a part would be intercepted by the foliage, and in transient 
showers be evaporated from it, without reaching the ground. But 
the air within the woods is always more humid in the growing 
season, and the surface is always shaded from the sun and sheltered 
from the Avinds. It is also generally covered with a layer of dead 
leaves and litter, so that the rain that does actually reach the earth, 
although it may be rather less in amount, is more in effect, because 
it is not readily evaporated. It sinks into the ground, instead of 
running off on the surface. It can not wear away the soil upon 
steep slopes, nor form sudden and destructive floods, as in a naked 
and treeless region. The streams rising in woodlands may swell 
after a rain, but more gradually, and they will subside again more 
slowly. If they rise in w'oodland swamps, they are scarcely liable 
to floods at any season, and tend to an even flow throughout the 
year. 

75. Springs and wells in a wooded region have a much more 
uniform supply of water than in the same region when cleared. 
Instances have often been observed where these become dry upon 
clearing, and again well supplied with water as before when a forest 
growth was restored. 

76. These principles become important when applied to the supply 
of water for cities and .towns, and for the maintenance of water in 
canals, or for hydraulic power. The basins of supply should, if pos- 
sible, be kept wooded, and the rivulets kept shaded, if we would 
avoid failure. 

77. In Illinois, and some other prairie states, there has been ob- 



Causes of dryer Climate: Atmometers. 



19 



served a noticeable increase in the dryness of the climate since set- 
tlement first began. This may in part be attributed to the cleariug 
away of the belts ( f native timber along the streams. The roots 
of these trees formerly kept the channel at a higher level, and in 
some cases formed extensive swamps. The beds of these streams 
are now lower, and they drain off the -water to a greater depth. 
The effect is shown in the failure of water in the wells, and in the 
more frequent occurrence of drouth, to the injury of agriculture. 

78. There is nothing that would more effectually check this tend- 
ency to deepening of channels than the planting of willows along 
the sides, and it might eventually in some degree restore what has 
been lost by raising them to a higher level. 

79. The rate of evaporation from the surface of water and from 
soils is found to be much more in the open fields than in woodlands, 
and the difference is greater in summer than in winter. 

80. Instruments for measuring the evaporation are sometimes 
called " atmometers," and they are of various forms. We here pre- 
sent a section of one in- 
vented by Professor La- 
ment, of the Munich Ob- 
servatory. It consists of a 
basin of water, /, g, with a 
narrow opening at A, com- 
municating with a reservoir 
in an adjacent cylinder. 
Into the latter a plunger 
may be pressed down or 
raised by the screw, ^S. It 
works through an air-tight 
collar, a, d, and by this 
means the water, by press- 
ure or suction, may be ad- 
justed in the open basin. 
When left for observation, 
the water is drawn down 
till it is just visible at A, 
and the scale, s, s, is ad- 
justed to a zero point at h. 

It is then forced up till 7. Lamonf s Atmometer. 




20 3Ieasurcment of Ecajjoration and Percolation. 



level with a line, N, 3f, and left. When next observed, the water 
is drawn down to A, and the scale will show how nuich has been 
wasted by evaporation. More water is added, and the scale is 
again set. 

81. By a simpler plan, known as Piche's evaporator, a plain grad- 
uated glass tube, with its lower end open and ground flat, is tilled 
with water. A disc of paper, first wet, is applied. It is then turned, 
with the closed end up, and the paper is found to adhere by atmos- 
pheric pressure. It continues wet, and by evaporation the water 
wastes away, the amount of loss be'ng shown on the scale. 

82. An open cylindrical dish of water may be used, the depth 
being measured at the beginning and end of the observation, and 
the loss supplied from time to time. The measurement may be 
made vertically by a scale, cr by volume in a graduated meas- 
uring cup, or by weighing. It is necessary to cover with a wire 
screen, to prevent birds from bathing in it. 

83. By an instrument shown in the annexed cut, the evapora- 
tion from soils, either 
naked or covered with 
grass, litter, or herb- 
age, or by small grow- 
ing trees, may be meas- 
ured. The zinc-lined 
box, A, is connected 
with a reservoir of 
water, C, through a 
valve, E, so as to keep 
wet up to a certain 

8. Instrument for Measuring the Evaporation from level. The Water may 

Soils. })e drawn off from the 

faucet. The amount supplied from time to time shows the rate of 
evaporation. 

84. The percolation of water through soils is measured by a 
Lyshneter. It consists of a vessel of known area at the surface. A, 
set in the ground, and the surface either clearer covered with litter, 
herbage, etc. The rains that fall on the surface filter down to the 
tube, C, and are measured in the receiver, D. 




Effect of Forests upon Balnfall and Temperature, 21 




W4W-^^fy 






9. Lysimeter. 



Belation between the Ramjall and the Native Forests. 

85. As a general rule, we find our native forests more dense in 
proportion as the rainfall is greatest, as 

we see proved upon the Pacific Coast, 
and in the region south of Lake Supe- 
rior. They become less as the rains 
diminish, and as we approach the great 
plains, the native timber is found only 
along the borders of the rivers and 
smaller streams, and finally it disap- 
pears altogether. Asa rule, where the 
amount of rain is less than twenty 
inches in a year, and this chiefly in 
winter, the growth of trees becomes 
difficult, and with many species impos- 
sible. 

86. There is some reason to believe 
that the capacity for cultivation in a dry region may be increased 
by tree-planting, and gradually extended to a degree that would not 
be possible to secure at first. 

Effect of Woodlands upon the Temperature of the Air and the 

Earth. 

87. It is evident to the senses that the air in woodlands 
is cooler than in the open fields in summer and warmer 
in winter, although the actual difference in the latter is 
slight. When we measure the temperature of the soil, we 
find the effect of woodlands much greater, the difference 
between winter and summer being less in the woods than 
in the fields, and less at greater depths than at the surface. 
This difference is greatest in summer, when vegetation is 
most active. Various means are employed to measure 
this temperature. In one, a thermometer with a thick 
glass bulb (invented by Lamont, of Munich), is left to 
various depths, and when drawn up for observation it does 
not quickly change before reading. In other cases, long- lo. 
stemmed instruments are permanently buried at different Earth 
depths, with the scales above the surface. etS?"^' 



22 The Winds: Agency of Water in Vegetation, 

88. 21ie Winds. In considering atmospheric agencies, the drying 
effects of the winds should be noticed, as liable to be greatly in- 
creased by the clearing of lands, and to be lessened by planting. 
These plantations, in order to serve most effectually as Avind-breaks, 
should extend across the direction from whence the prevailing winds 
blow. In the states west of the Mississippi, the dry and warm 
Aviuds, most injurious to vegetation, come from the south-west, and 
it is against these that we should chiefly guard. 

89. The winter storms of greatest violence, knoAvn in the North- 
western States as " blizzards," come from the north-west. There can 
be no doubt but that their local effects may be reduced, and to some 
extent their occurrence diminished by the plantations of groves of 
trees. 

90. In some countries exposed to prevailing ocean winds, there 
^\i\\ be ample rainfall under any condition, and w^oodlands can have 
but little effect; for, Avhether present or absent, the humid air from 
the ocean will precipitate its moisture when it comes over the land. 
In Norwav, the amount of rain on the western coast is over 80 inches 
a year. In Great Britain and Ireland, and on the western coast of 
France, the rains will be abundant from these causes, as they will 
always be along our Pacific coast. But these ocean winds in passing 
over mountain ranges must necessarily be cooled down to a degree 
much below the dew point, and become dry by being thus depleted 
of their moisture as they pass inland. 

The Agency of Water in Vegetation. 

91. Whether in solid form, as snow or ice, or as a liquid, supplied 
by rains, dews, or irrigation, or as a vapor, water acts an essen- 
tial part in vegetation, and is necessary for the existence of all vege- 
table life. For best effect it should be seasonable and sufficient, but 
not in excess. 

92. As a general rule, seeds will not germinate under water, but 
in some trees the roots will bear submergence for a considerable time. 
The wood of trees thus exposed is often softer and more spongy than 
it would have been if grown on dryer ground. Generally, however, 
a sustained overflow of the surface causes the death of the trees 
whose roots are thus covered, and "beaver meadows" are thus 
caused. 

93. The Snow is a slow conductor of radiant heat, while it allows 



Effects of Snows and of Frosts. 23 

the sun's heat to pass through it with facility. The earth is thus 
covered and protected from the intense cold of winter, the .snow al- 
lowing it to be warmed by the sun's heat, while at the same time it 
does not allow the warmth of the earth to escape. The melting of 
snows takes place largely from the under side, as we see evidence in 
the vacant spaces around every object in the snow as the spring ap- 
proaches. 

94. In forest shade the snow melts but slowly, and the water is 
thus allowed to sink into the earth, or run off gradually, instead of 
suddenly, as in the rains in an open country. By this delay in 
melting, the vegetation is kept back until warm weather is con- 
firmed and injuries from spring frosts are less liable to happen. 

95. In woodlands the snow does not drift, and this effect extends 
somewhat into the adjacent fields, which are thus kept from ex- 
posure to injurious frosts in winter. 

96. In liquid form the water is taken up by the roots, and with 
it carbonic acid gas and various mineral substances in solution, the 
latter supplying the inorganic portions remaining as ashes when the 
plants are burned. In its chemical composition water consists of 
two atoms of hydrogen united to one of oxygen (Hg O), and it is 
produced when these elements are united by being burned together. 
The agency of water will be further noticed in connection with the 
functions of the leaves. 

Of the Effects of Frost 

97. Many species of trees will not endure a freezing temperature; 
others are injured but not killed by it, and others appear fitted to 
endure the greatest rigors of winter without injury, yet in excep- 
tional cases even these may suffer from intense and prolonged cold. 
The winters of 1683-4 and 1708-9 were memorable from the in- 
juries they did in Europe to the forest trees, and in December, 
1879, a severe frost in France did immense damage to young tim- 
ber. It was found on this last occasion that the injury was greater 
where the sun struck the trees not protected by snow ; the effect 
was greater in valleys than on high grounds, and varied much with 
the soil, the exposure, and the humidity of the air. 

98. In these exceptional and fortunately rare cases, the condition 
of the wood as to maturity had doubtless much influence, as the 
winter appears to have found them unprepared for its rigors. It 
was afterwards found, that many trees, supposed to be dead, still put 



24 Efff^c^^ of Frost: Iiijaries from Snoivs, 

forth new buds from the older wood, and thus were able to show 
hopeful signs of recovery. 

99. The injury from frosts depends more on the season than on 
its intensity. A late spring frost will kill down the young shoots 
of conifers that would endure a severe winter. 

]()0. Many trees, and especially oaks, pines, and firs, arc found 
cracked into deep fissures from the unequal action of the frost upon 
their woody tissues. Such cracks do not heal up or grow over, but 
remain as a furrow always visible upon the outside, and greatly im- 
pairing its value for lumber. 

101. A freezing rain may load down the branches of trees so as 
to break them. The roots of young seedling trees may be thrown 
out of the ground by frost, and the fruit-season may be checked by 
a frost that kills the buds or blossoms but that is not severe enough 
to injure the foliage ; or its maturity may be prevented by an early 
autumnal frost. 

102. Trees accustomed to alternately wet and dry seasons, such 
as conifers from the Pacific coast, become exceedingly liable to win- 
ter-kill, especially after a mild and damp autumn. A long-continued 
period of very cold weather in winter has been noticed as more 
likely to injure the growth of trees than more intense frost for a shorter 
period. 

103. The effects of frost are always to be feared in high moun- 
tainous regions and in deep humid valleys, for the atmosphere is there 
always loaded with vapors that condense in fogs as soon as the 
sun is hid. Young trees bear these exposures with much peril until 
they get to a height of fifteen or twenty feet ; that is to say, above 
the ground fogs, or at least above the level at which these injuries 
are most likely to happen. 

Of thd Injuries from Snoivs. 

104. AVhen damp snow falls upon the branches of forest trees, 
and especially the evergreens, it may break them down by its 
weight, especially when this is increased by rain, or, when frozen 
on, it is exposed to a strong wind. An instance occurred in Scot' 
land, in the early part of 1879, when great damage was done to 
evergreen forests, and to less extent to the oak, birch, and larch 
trees, from the weight of snows. 

105. In the Rocky Mountain region snow-slides often do great 



Timbtr-Line. — Decline in Fruit Production, etc. 25 

injury to yoimg timber, and these become more liable to occurrence 
as the wood near the summit is destroyed. The snow then drifts 
over and forms great overhanging masses on the leeward side, which 
are liable to become detached and to slide down into the valleys, car- 
rying every thing before them. 

106. Young seedlings when covered with the snow are sometimes 
broken down by its weight, as it settles from melting on the under 
side. 

107. The Tlmber-Line is the upper limit of tree growth upon 
mountains. Its height is greatest within the tropics, and it descends 
as we go north or south, until it reaches the surface in the Arctic 
zone. It also decreases as we approach the sea-coast, and it is often, 
from local causes, higher on one side of a mountain than on the 
other. In the Himalayas, this line is about 11,800 feet high. On 
the Alp^ it averages 6,400 feet, and in the Rocky Mountains it 
varies from 9,000 to 12,000 feet.^ 

108. In ascending to the timber-line, no great difference in the 
size of the timber is observed until within a few hundred feet of the 
limit, when the trees begin to appear short and wide-spreading, and 
at last almost fiat, and leaning from the prevailing winds. Above 
the line, no trees whatever are found, and but little vegetation of 
any kind, the mountain rising bleak and barren to its summit, or 
until it reaches the eternal snows. This snow line varies with the 
seasons, and is in some years higher or lower than in others, accord- 
ing as the prevailing conditions of the weather may have varied. 

Decline of Fruit Production and its Cause. 

109. It is not unusual to hear old people recall the memories of 
their youth, when peaches and other fruits grew luxuriantly and 
without special care, in regions where they are now unknown, or 
are raised only in favorable seasons and with extraordinary care. 

(1) Prof. C. C. Parry, in Prof. Hayden's Report of 1872, gives the height 
of the timber line in some twenty places, some of them being as follows: 

FEET. FEET. 

Mount Shasta, Cal 8,000 Gilbert' Peak, Uintas 11,100 

Cascade Range, Or. 7,000 Audobon's Peak, Colo 11,825 

Ward's Peak, Monta 8,784 Mt. Engelmann, Colo 11,518 

Bridger's Peak 9,002 Gray's Peak, Colo 11,643 

Near Henry's Lake, Idaho 9,36d Pike's Peak 12,040 

Wind Hiver Mts 10,l(;o Colorado generally 11,600 to 12,000 

Long's Peak, Colo 10,800 



26 Injuries resulting from, excessive Clearings. 

They "will speak of winters of UDiform but not extreme cold, and 
steady and long-continued seasons for making maple sugar, and 
other incidents of farm life, denoting a regularity in the return of 
seasons, and a similarity in their character that does not now exist. 

110. In respect to loss of fertility, something may be ascribed to 
the exhaustion of the soil by careless cultivation, and something to 
the drainage of swamps and the deepening of water-courses. But 
the most conspicuous difference in the general condition of the coun- 
try, and the most obvious cause of this decline, is to be found in 
the excessive clearing off of woodlands, and the loss of the equaliz-- 
ing tendencies which their presence occasioned. 

The Ruin that is brought upon Countries by the Clearing off of Woodlands. 

111. It is a familiar fact there are many regions in Asia and 
Southern Europe, once exceedingly fertile and densely populated, 
that are now utterly sterile and desolate. The country bordering 
upon the Euphrates, and portions of Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Italy, 
and Spain, are now incapable of cultivation from this cause. The Hon. 
Geo. P. Marsh, in a work entitled " Man and Nature," and a later 
edition entitled " The Earth as Modified by Human Action," has 
devoted a large space to the discussion of this question. A more 
recent illustration of these effects is published in the principal 
French Journal of Forestry,^ and, for comparison, we place by its 
side a description of the same region only about fifty years before : 

(About 1876.) {About 182G.) 

"The Khanate of Ikicharia pre- ". . . The finest provinces of 

sents a striking example of the con- Tartary remain to be described, be- 

sf^quences br(uight upon a country by ing generally known under the name 

clearings. Within a period of thirty of Great Bucharia. . . . The 

years, this was one of the most fertile most noted and fertile of all the 

regions of central Asia, a country provinces is that of Sogd, so named 

which, when well wooded and wat- from the river that ficws through it. 

ercd, was a terrestrial paradise. But 'For eight days,' says Iban Hankcl, 

within the last twenty-five years, a 'We may travel in the country of 

mania of clearing has seized upon Sogd and not be out of one delicious 

the inhabitants, and all the ^foat garden. On every side, villages, rich 

forests have been cut away, and the corn-fields, fruitful orchards. Coun- 

little that remained was ravaged by try houses, gardens, meadows inter- 

(1) Revue des Eaux et Fords, March, 187G, p. 93. 



Injuries resulting from excessive Clearings, 



27 



Arc during a civil war. The conse- spersed by rivulets, reservoirs and 

quences were not long in following, canals, ])resent a most lively picture 

and has transformed this country into of industry and happiness. The ricii 

a kind of arid desert. The water- valley of Sogd produces so great an 

courses are dried up, and the irrigat- abundance of grapes, melons, pears, 

ing canals empty. The moving and apples, that they are exported to 

sands of the desert, being no longer Persia, and even to Hindostan.'" 
restrained by barriers of forests, are The same writer (Malte-Brun), 

every day gaining upon the land, again citing from the same author, 

and will iinish by transforming it says: '" I have often been at Kohen- 



into a desert as desolate as the soli- 
tudes that separate it from Khiva." 



dis, the ancient capital of iJucharia. 
I have cast my eyes all around, and 
never have I seen a verdure more 
fresh or abundant, or of wider ex- 
tent. This green carpeting mingled 
in the horizon in the azure of the 
skies. The simple \ erdure served as 
a sort of ornamental oflset to the 
towns contained in it. Numerous 
country seats decorated the simplic- 
ity of the fields. Hence I am not 
surprised that, of all the inhabitants 
of Korasan aiid Maweralnahr, none 
attain a more advanced age than 
those of Bucharia.' " — Alalte-Brun's 
Univ. Geograj^hy, i, 470. 

112. "We need not go out of our own country to witness equal 
examples of irreparable injuries done by improvident clearings — 
perhaps on a smaller scale, but not less disastrous in result. In the 
older settled portions of New England, in the Middle States, and 
in the South, there are aridliills and worn-out fields, no longer 
worth any thing for cultivation or pasturage, and that offer, as 
the only chance of restoration to a useful purpose, the possibility of 
growing trees. 

113. The abundance of cliff-dwellings and other ruins, in western 
Colorado and New Mexico, appears to show" that that region was 
once capable of sustaining a larger population tlian would be now 
possible from existing means of cultivation. It is of course not 
known as to what has caused this difference, but the destruction of 
forests appears to afford the most probable reason. 

114. Mr. B. H. Baden-Powell, in a report on the Administration 
of the Forest Department of India (1877, vol. i, p. 51), in speak- 



28 Injuries from Clearings. — The Blossom and its Parts. 

ing of the central, lilgb, arid lands of certain districts, says that in 
the worst of these there are found traces of ancient cultivation, 
river beds now dry, and remains of villages. In the parts outside 
of tlie arid region, the streams, once perennial and used for irriga- 
tion, are now without water, excepting when swollen to torrents in the 
rains. He adds: "This phenomenon, so commonly observed in all 
the Punjaub streams coming from the now denuded lower hills, 
points inevitably to the conclusion that forest denudation has de- 
prived these rivers of their steady water-supply, and hence ruined 
the rainless countries that were dependent upon them." 

115. We quote these facts in this connection, not because they 
are rare or unusual, for they are not. We present them as closely 
describing the condition of the now irrigated and fertile regions of 
Colorado, California, and the Territories, Avhose fertility is wholly 
dependent upon the streams that may be withdrawn from their 
natural beds and distributed over the surface in the growing season. 
As an inevitable consequence of denudation, these streams will 
swell to torrents in the winter rains and from the rapid melting of 
snows in spring, and become dry in summer, when most needed for 
irrigation. The mining interest, depending upon a uniform water 
supply, will share in this misfortune, which will also be felt in the 
loss of water-power, and in the failure of water for the supply of 
towns and cities. 

CHAPTER IV. 

REPRODUCTION FROM SEED. 

TJie essential iiarts of the Blossom. 

116. Flowers include the parts essential to germination, analogous 
in effect to sex. They consist of at least two distinct portions — 
stamens ernd jyistils. The first of these bears an anther, containing at 
full maturity a yellow dust called pollen. The stamens, when few, 
are generally of some determinate number, and in perfect flowers 
are arranged around one or more pistils in the center. These have 
at their base the germ of the future seeds, enveloped in some cover- 
ing, which is collectively termed the fruit. The anthers are gen- 
erally supported or suspended by stalks or fibers called filaments. 
The pistil usually consists of the stipe, or supporting stem, and the 
stigraa or terminal part that receives the pollen. The fertilization 



The Flower and its Parts: Process of Fertilization. 29 




11. Staminate. 

Flowers of the 

Oak eiilariied. 



of the blossom is secured whenever the pollen, at maturity, is con- 
veyed to the stigma of the pistil. 

117. The blossoms of trees are often unsymmetri- 
cal, and the parts essential to fertilization may be 
either in the same blossom, as shown on a subsequent 
page in the linden, or on different parts of the same 
tree, as shown in the hornbeam and the alder, in the 
accompanying engravings. In the latter, the germs 
for the early spring blossoms are formed the fall be- 
fore. Such pendant blossoms in trees are called 
aments, or catkins. Their form and structure afford 
characters, upon which botanical classification in part 
depends. 

118. Where both the staminate and pistillate blos- 
soms grow upon the same plant, it is said to be 
monoecious, but when formed upon different trees or 

plants, as in case of the poplars and willows, it is said to he dioecious. 
In the latter case, the seeds can not be fertile, unless trees bearing 
both kinds of blossoms grow 
in the same neighborhood. 

119. The Avinds have an 
important influence in dis- 
seminating the pollen from 
one tree to another, and the 
blossoms of such trees gen- 
erally open in the windy sea- 
son of the year, and before 
the leaves appear. The bees, 
in pursuit of honey, perform 
an important office in con- 
veying pollen from one blos- 
som to another, and there 
are many special arrange- 
ments in nature for securing 
fertilization. 

120. When the pollen of one species is conveyed to the pistillate 
flowers of another species, within the same genus, cross-fertilization 
sometimes occurs. This may occur naturally, or by artificial means, 




12. Two Male Blossoras of the TTornbeam, and 
the Terminal Pistilate Blossom. 



30 Process of Fertilization : Distribution of Tree Seeds. 

and the hybrids thus obtained may, in the case of trees, be perpet- 
uated by layers, cuttings or grafts. 

121. When fer- 
tilization is se- 
cured, the stami- 
nate blossoms fall 
off or dry up, and 
_,; -^ the germs at the 
^-y" base of the pistils 
expand, and ripen 
into the fruit. 
This usually hap- 
pens the same 
year that the blos- 
soms appear, but 
in some of the 
oaks and the con- 
, , ■ ifers, the ripeninsr 

y ^^^-^//^Z \ process IS not com- 
ir^-^^"^" "P pleted till the au- 
tumn of the sec- 
ond year after fer- 
tilization takes 
place. Many trees 
have their fertile 
and their sterile 
years; indeed, but 
few trees bear 
steadily and alike from year to year. In the case of trees intro- 
duced into regions where they are not native, they may thrive and 
grow to large size, but without ever bearing fertile seeds, or even 
without blossoming. A dense shade is unfavorable for the forma- 
tion of seeds, and trees, after being exposed to the air and light by 
the clearing away of trees around them, will usually bear fruit more 
abundantly in first or second year after. 

Of the Natural Didrihution of Forest Tree Seeds. 
122. While the seeds of all trees may fall and take root under or 
near the parent tree, and there thrive, when properly supplied with 




13. Alnus glutinosa— Aider. 



The Natural Distribution of Forest- Tree Seeds, 31 




14. Pistillate Flow- 
ers of the Willow. 



moisture aud light, nature has provided many kinds with the means 
i'or being carried to a greater or less distance. 
This natural dispersion of the seed may occur iu 
various ways : 

123. Dispersion by the Winds. Most of the pines 
and firs have their seeds furnished with a thin 
membranous wing at one end, that enables them 
to be borne to a considerable distance by the winds. 
The elms have a thin disc entirely around the 
seed, and the maples have their seeds iu pairs, each 
side being furnished with a membranous wing. In 
the ash the seeds have closely adherent leaves, 
which enable it to be carried by the winds, and in 
the hornbeam there is a leaf-like appendage, that 
aids in its dispersion. In the maples, the pairs 
of seeds, with symmetrical wings, takes a ro- 
tary, spinning motion as they fall. The poplars 
and willows have a downy tuft, which enables 
them to be carried by the winds, sometimes many 
miles from the tree where they grew. 

124. The Cottonwood, which belongs to the 
poplar family, derives its name from this downy 
appendage, which lies abundantly scattered over 
the ground at the season when it ripens. The 
bass wood has a heavier seed, suspended on the 
under side of a leaf-like wing, which causes it to 
shoot off obliquely as it falls. In some instances, 
the seeds falling in winter upon a crust of snow, or 
upon the ice, may glide along before the wind a 
great distance, and in this way the pods of the lo- 
cust, and other heavier seeds, in their capsules, or 
without them, may occasionally be scattered. 



Of tJie Agency of Animals in the Planting of Tree 

Seeds. 




15. Pine Seeds. 




16. Seed of the Elm. 




17. Seed of the 
Birch. 



125. We often find trees, especially such as bear 
edible nuts, or stone fruits surrounded by a pulp, growing in situa- 
tions where the seeds have been dropped by birds or animals. In fact, 
the squirrels may be called the most industrious and successful 



32 The Natural Distribution of Forest- Tree Seedso 




planters in the world, as during the nut season they are continually 
burying these seeds, just below the surface, un- 
der the leaves and in the rich soil, in conditions 
eminently favorable for vegetation. This is 
done at a season when the vitality of these 
seeds is greatest ; and although some of them 
may be afterwards eaten, vast numbers germi- 
nate and grow to trees. 

126. This will sufficiently account for most 
instances in which the trees bearing heavy 
seeds, such as the oaks and the nut-trees, are 
found scattered through a forest of other kinds, 
where none were noticed before. Upon careful 
18. Seed of the European examination in a pine woodland, we may often 
??T^)'^^ (Car;j/;i«s f^^^j multitudes of youug oaks, that spring up 
from the planting of squirrels, and that soon 

perish, unless the 
pines happen to be 
cut a way, when they 
may take a vigorous 
growth, and thus be- 
come the principal 
kind. The seeds 
eaten by birds, and 
dropped undigested, may take root at greater distances from the 
parent tree.^ 

Distribution of Seeds by Currents of Water. 

127. Many seeds float readily upon the Avater while still in their 
capsules, and some of them without, and in this way they are car- 
ried long distances by rivers, and thrown up along the shores of 
lakes. It is thus that the sand-bars and shores of our western riv- 
ers are continually supplying an inexhaustible and ever-renewing 
supply of Cottonwood and other seedling trees, that may be easily 
plowed up and i:>lanted at a small cost, upon the prairies of that re- 
gion, and with much better chances of success than where cuttings 

^ A most interesting article upon this subject, by Henry D. Thoreau, will 
te found in the Jie2)ort of the Board of Agriculture of Massachusetts, 18G0, 
p. 11. 




19. Seeds of the English Maple (Acer camj)cs(7-e). 



Seeds that riijen early : Gathering and keeping of Seeds. 33 



from these trees are set in the soil without roots, 
cuttings depends much on the sea- 
son • if very dry and hot, they may 
fail, and if moist and cool, they 
will grow. But a plant with suffi- 
cient root in the beginning has far 
better chances of getting well 
started, and when properly set, in 
a soil where it can get moisture, it 
is almost sure to succeed. 

Seed that Bipen in Spring or Early 
Summer. 



The success of 



128. The elms, willows, poplars. 




and soft maples mature their seeds 
in the spring or early summer, and 
if not allowed to become too dry, may be carried 
to a considerable distance, but should be planted 
as soon as may be in the same season. They should 
be lightly covered, and the ground should be kept 
moist and partly shaded, until they take root and 
get well sprouted. Many of these seeds may be 
gathered from the surface of still water, as they 
have fallen from trees along the banks. When 
planted, they should be but thinly covered -with 
soil, and shaded from the sun. They will gen- 
erally get well rooted the first year, and ready for 
an early start in the next season. 



20. Seeds of the Sycamore Maple {Acer 
pseudo-plalanus) . 




. a-^'i^- =- 









The Gathering and Keeping of Seeds. 

129. Tree seeds should generally be gathered as 
soon as they are ripe, and if not before, soon after 
they have fallen from the tree. They do not re- 
tain their vitality long; but if not planted the 
same fall, may generally be kept till the next 
spring. As a general rule, they loose their germ- 
inating power within a year. The mode of keep- 
ing them over is elsewhere described in different 
kinds of trees, and can not be generally stated, except that they 



21. Ripe Seeds of 
the Poplar before 
they fall. 



^0 



22. Seed and Tuft of 
the Cottonwood. 



34 Modes of keeping Nuts and Acorns. 

should not be allowed to heat, or mold, or become too dry, and in 
some cases they should not be allowed to freeze. Where large 
quantities of pine and other coniferous seeds are required for plant- 
ing in Europe, drying-houses are constructed, using either solar or 
artificial heat for drying the cones, so tiiat the seeds may be shaken 
out. Nuts and hard-shelled seeds may be kept fresh by packing in 
slightly damp sand, and keeping in a cool, but not too dry a place. 
Seeds having a pulpy covering should be washed out and dried in 
the shade before putting away. Small seeds may be kept in sacks 
or papers. 

A Cheap Method of Keeping Nuts and Acorns for Planting. 

130. As these may be spoiled by too much drying, or may heat 
and mold if in large heaps, or may sprout prematurely if too wet, 
the following method is sometimes practiced : A dry and sandy 
place is selected in a forest, where it is level, or a little sloping to the 
south, and where the shelter of large trees is low and abundant. 
The place must be fenced in, and should not be liable to standing 
water. A small ditch may be dug around it for drainage. The 
acorns or nuts are spread on the ground as gathered, four or five 
inches deep, the leaves and litter being first removed. From the 
beginning they should be thoroughly raked daily, for the first 
month, and afterwards once in two or three days. By the end of 
December, the tendency to heat and mold will be over, and in very 
cold weather they should be lightly covered with straw or leaves ; 
but this should be removed early, to prevent sprouting. In" tem- 
perate climates no covering is needed, and in very rainy weather the 
raking should be repeated till time of planting. 

131. Thin-shelled nuts, such as acorns and the chestnut, sooner 
loose their vitality in the sun and dry air, and are more liable to 
heat than those having a hard shell, like the black walnut, the but- 
ternut, and the hickories. They will not be injured by freezing, if 
protected by a thin covering of mulch — for nature provides such a 
cover in the herbage and fallen leaves. They will need protection 
from standing water, and from vermin and other animals. When 
kept under shelter, they should be spread evenly, and should be 
stirred from time to time, till the moisture has partly dried out, so 
that they will not mold. 



Essential parts of the Young Plant, 



35 



Process of Germination of the Seed, 
132« The seed contains the germs of the first growth of the future 
tree in an emhnjo, and the cotyledons or seed-leaves that will first ap- 
pear. In the conifers, such as the pines, spruces, and cedars, there 
are several of these cotyledons, but in most other trees that we shall 
have occasion to notice there are two. 

133. When living seeds are properly exposed to darkness, moist- 
ure, air, and warmth, they will sprout and grow. In this process, 
there comes out from the embryo a root, or radicle, which descends 
into the soil in whatever position the seed may chance to lie, while 
the cotyledons or germinal leaves seek the air and the light, forming 
the ])lumide or stem of the plant. 

134. The time required for sprouting varies from a few hours to 
a few days, and in some cases it does not occur until the next 
season. The process may sometimes be hastened and assured by 
previously soaking the seeds, and in those hav- 
ing hard shells by scalding, as elsewhere more 
fully described. 

135. The cotyledons of the acorn (a) are 
made up of a multitude of small cells, filled 
•with a kind of starch, which performs an office 
quite analagous to the albumen of an egg, and 
is sometimes so called. It differs, however, 
from albumen as found in the Qg^, and in the 
serum of the blood, and is a form of -proteine^ 
not forming a part of the tissues, but contained j 
in cells ; as a thin jelly mingled with the juices. — *'^ 
In other forms it is called gluten, aiid, with 
starch, it forms the principal bulk in grains Q 
and seeds. 

136. This, absorbing moisture from the soil, 
and having access to the air and carbonic acid 
gas in the soil, is changed into sugar, which is 
soluble in the juices of the young plant, and by 
the time that this supply is spent, the roots 

have got well started, and the young tree has all the elements of 
life that it requires for future growth. 




23. An Acorn giving out 
its Plumule and Rad- 
icle. 



86 



Germination of Seeds. — Tests of Vitality o 



137. There is often a little delay, after the germ has started, before 

the roots get a sufficient hold 
upon the soil to draw from it 
the nourishment necessary for 
a more rapid growth. 

138. In natural planting, the 
seed falls to the earth when 
ripe, and scarcely gets covered, 
excepting by the dead leaves. 
It sometimes will sprout the 
first season ; but in other cases, 
as in nuts and stone-fruits, the 
germination takes place in the 
spring following, and after ex- 
posure to winter rains and in 
cold climates to the frost. It 
is a safe rule to follow this ex- 
ample, by planting or sowing 
the seeds while they arc still 
fresh, and esj^ecially those that 
ripen early the same season. 

139. As seeds of trees are 
liable to lose their vitality by 
keeping, they should be tested 
in doubtful cases. If dry and 

i, .1, the seed, Avith germ at e, and cotyie- shriveled, they are probably 

dons, a, and c. B, a first leaf. C, the first -\ i m t , , 

. .. r, .. f ., , ... , dead. Ihe best wav to ascer- 

pair. u, first leaves of the ash. m, leaves " 

that come out, the external covering of the tain whether they are alive or 

seed being left in the ground. The cross in ^^^ jg ^^ spread them Upon 
each figure shows the place of the earth's ^ . ^ 

surface. flannel, cover them with an- 

other piece of flannel, and, 
after moistening them, place them in a dark and warm place. The 
proportion that sprout shows the relative quantity that are alive, 
and sometimes the price paid for tree seeds is governed by the re- 
sults of this test. 




24. 



Modes of Germination of different kinds 
of Seeds. 



Sviviru/ of Seeds Broad-cast, etc, 37 

CHAPTER V. 

OF THE VARIOUS MODES OF PROPAGATION OF FOREST TREES. 

140. lu securing the growth of trees iu a new grove or woodland, 
we may obtain plants by either of the following methods : 

(1.) From the seeds sown broad-cast or planted where the trees 

are to grow. 

(2.) From seeds first sown in seed-beds or nurseries, or that spring 
up from natural sowing, and that are transplanted for permanence. 

(3.; From cuttings, layers, and other methods of propagation 
from parts of living trees, and that perpetuate the varieties peculiar 
to each. These may be separately considered : 

1. Seech soivn Broad-cast or Planted ivhere the Trees are to Grow. 

141. In some species, this is done by nature in a general way, by 
self-seeding, as in case of the cottonwood, the chief requirement 
being in the way of preparation, a fresh mellow surface, in the 
season when the seeds are being scattered by the winds. Upon very 
steep surfiices, that would be liable to erosion from rains if broken 
up, the seed may be sown broad-cast, without previously disturbing 
the soil, and upon northerly slopes this is often done with advan- 
tage upon the snow. 

142. In establishing a growth of trees upon loose sands, it is also 
necessary to sow the seeds broad-cast, usually with those of other 
plants that give them some protection when young; for, in this 
case, the first fibers of the roots strike deep into the soil, and they 
can not afterwards be removed without injury. 

143. It is generally preferable to plant the seeds in rows, so as to 
admit of cultivation between the trees while they are small. This 
may be done by seed-planters, or by hand, as will be more particu- 
larly described concerning the several kinds of trees elsewhere de- 
scribed. In planting seeds directly, allowance should be made for 
loss from deep covering, depredations of birds and insects, and other 
waste, as well as from defective seeds, and from the various acci- 
dents to which the young plants may be exposed. In such cases 
they should be thinned out from time to time, and often the plants 
thus taken out may be used in filling up the blank spaces in the 
rows. In doing this, the hole should be first made, and the plant 



38 Sowing of Seeds: Planting of Walnuts, etc, 

with the soil around its roots should be taken up Avith a hoe or 
spade, and set in the new place. The "bore-spade," elsewhere 
described, may be used to advantage for this purpose. [§ 198.] 

144. Seeds may be lightly covered with a hoe, or, better still, 
with an iron rake, which is made for this purpose. This is made 




25. Strong Iron Rake for mellowing the Surface and covering Seeds. 

of sufficient strength for working among the roots of trees, and is 
of great use in exposing a fresh surface when we would wish to sow 
seeds in vacant places in the woods, as well as for surface work gen- 
erally, wdiere we would wish to freshen the soil without moving it 
from its place. Another instrument is used to some extent by 
planters that may perhaps be understood Avithout a figure. It con- 
sists of a heavy iron disc, some eight or ten inches across, with a 
long handle coming up from the center, and a series of long iron 
spikes on the under side. When this is struck into the ground, and 
turned around by the aid of a cross-bar in the handle, it mellows 
the soil on a circular spot as large as the disc, and as deep as the 
spikes are hmg. A dibble or pointed stick should never be used in 
planting seeds, or at least not unless it makes a hole much larger 
than the seeds and has a guard to regulate the depth. If small, and 
used carelessly, the seeds may be covered too deep, or they may 
lodge part way down the hole, leaving a void space under them. 

The Planting of Walnut and other Kid-Trees. 

145, In a dry climate, and in the fine prairie soil, it is difficult to 
transplant any of the oaks or nut-trees without great risk of losing 
them, and it will be generally found better to plant them where 
they are to remain. In doing so, it is an excellent plan, and some- 
times very necessary, to give them In the first years some protection, 
by the aid of the fast-growing kinds, such as the Avhite willow or 
the Cottonwood, set in alternate places in the rows, and to provide a 
belt of the latter alone around the outside of the grove. 



Plantinfj in Seed-beds and Nurseries. 89 

Soaking of Seeds before Planting. 

146. Harcl-shelled seeds, such as the common and honey locust, 
and the Kentucky coffee-tree, etc., will not grow until they have 
been soaked for some time, and sometimes not till the second or even 
third year after planting. Their germinating power is hastened by 
scalding for a short time, and by allowing them to macerate in warm 
water. The process may be repeated several times, the seeds that 
show signs of sprouting being first picked out, at each time, before 
exposing the rest to this treatment. They should be i)lanted with- 
out delay ; for, if allowed to dry after being once softened, their vi- 
tality is soon lost. 

2. Seeds Planted in Seed-Bed s and Nurseries. 

147. In selecting grounds for a nursery, we should avoid those 
that are exceptionally rich, or that are too damp, because the young 
plants thus started will, when placed in less fertile and dryer 
grounds, either perish or lose their vigor, and be slow in recovering 
strength. A hard and barren soil is still more unfavorable, for the 
plants that start are feeble, and will not endure the hardship of 
transplanting. The grounds should be of good fertility, moderately 
compact, and well drained, sheltered from hot and from cold winds, 
and not exposed to drouth. 

148. The soil should be prepared by deep cultivation, and be kept 
free from w^ecds. Sometimes this may be done by the cultivation 
of some hoed croj) between the rows of young trees, when they are 
not liable to be shaded or injured by this practice. The presence of 
an adjacent woodland will often afford protection, and a stream of 
water near by will be found very convenient for watering the young 
plants or for irrigation in a dry time. 

149. It is generally best to sow the seeds in beds, laid out in bands 
about four feet w^ide, and of indefinite length, with paths between. 
The seeds are sowed in row^s, from six inches to a foot apart, and 
very close together in the rows. The covering should be light, and 
only just sufficient to prevent the seeds from being washed out by 
the rains. They may, with great advantage, be j^lanted in and cov 
ered by a soil prepared from dead leaves and decomposed sod.^ 

1 For preparing this soil, the following directions are given by Lorentz 
and Parade : " Select a shady place, not expoiied to the south, but open to 



40 Planting in Seed-Beds and Nurseries, 

150. The young seedlings of trees generally require shading a 
part of the time, and this is especially true of the conifers. This 
may be done by placing screens made of lath, with spaces between 
as wide as the pieces, and supported a few inches above the surface ; 
or a kind of arbor may be nTade of poles, over the beds, high enough 
for a man to stand upright under them, and loosely covered with 
brush. 

151. The object of these screens is to afford the same kind of 
shelter that the young plants receive under the parent trees in the 
forest, where the sunlight and shadow alternately passes over them, 
at different hours of the day. 

152. In a dry time the seed-beds should be watered, and upon 
first sowing they may need the protection of a light covering of 
brush or grass to keep them from being disturbed by the birds. 

153. In watering a seed-bed and nursery rows, in a dry time, the 
earth should be dampened to a considerable depth, and when begun 
in dry weather, it must be continued till the rains come ; for, other- 
wise, a crust will form on the surface, which prevents access of the 
air to the roots. No other mode of watering is so good in a nursery 
as that of irrigation, especially in preparing young trees for trans- 
planting in cities, and there we wish to secure an abundant mass of 
fibrous roots. 

154. The seed-beds and rows should be kept free of weeds, the 
former by hand-weeding and the latter by hoeing ; but in the part 
occupied by larger trees it is of less importance, but still necessary. 

the sky, so that the air shall have free access; make one or more piles of 
dead leaves, ferns, and other succulent vegetation gathered before their seeds 
are ripe, and make other like piles of sods and the weeds pulled up in clean- 
ing out the seed- rows and the alleys between them. These piles may be a 
yard or a yard and a half high. In spring and fall they should be turned, 
and in a dry time they should be watered. The sods will gonerally decay 
the first year, but it may require three cr four years to decompose the leaves. 
A mixture of beech leaves with the leaves of conifers makes the best possi- 
ble quality, and the process may be hastened by mixing in the foMage of the 
ash, maple, elm, willow, poplar, alder, locust, etc., that decay more rapidly. 
When the seed beds have been prepared with a mixture of these soils, they 
will afterwards need but a thin covering every year to maintain the soil in 
the best state of fertility, and there will be no need of moving to a new 
place on account of the exhaustion of the soil." — Culture des Bois, oth ed., 
p. 595. 



Planting in Seed-Beds and Nurseries. 41 

In soils liable to heave with the frost, the young plants, when thrown 
out, should be carefully replaced in the spring, and the soil pressed 
down against the roots by hand. 

155. The proper time of sowing in seed-beds is generally in the 
spring, but the seeds that ripen in the early part of summer, such 
as the elms and soft maples, should be sown the same season, and 
as soon as may be after ripening. We give elsewhere directions for 
the collection and preservation of seeds. 

156. Experience has shown that this dense sowing in the seed- 
rows yields the best results, for the plants are not so liable to be 
crowded out by the Aveeds ; and although the roots may interlock a 
little, they easily separate Avhen taken out. The larger plants may 
be first taken out, leaving the feebler ones until they get stronger. 

157. It is remarked by Carriere^ that the seeds of some conifers 
very easily loose their germinating power, ^ so tiiat it is desirable that 
they should be sown as soon as may be after they are ripe ; but gen- 
erally, as they ripen in the fall, they may be kept till sprmg. With 
such as have the seed imbedded in a fleshy or pulpy envelope,'' it 
requires the greatest care to keep them alive till the next year. In 
all species the germinating power deteriorates more or less rapidly 
the longer the seeds are kept. There are great advantages in spring 
sowing, as is the common practice, and this may be done at any 
time from March to May. In damp mild seasons, success is certain ; 
but in case of drouth, the young plants are sure to suffer, and in the 
large way it is impossible to water them. He therefore inquires in 
a way that half implies advice, as to whether it would not sometimes 
be best to sow late in autumn, there still being some chance of in- 
jury from the cold. This might in many cases still be prevented 
by a covering of leaves, or, j^erhaps still better, by sowing oats, 
barley, or some other grain with the coniferous seeds. These, 
springing up in the flill, would afford a covering to the young plants 
sufficient to protect them through the first winter. This sowing of 

^Tra^te general (hs Coniferes, p. 574. 

2 Such as those belonging to the genera Abies, Araucaria, A7'ihrofoxis, 
CaUitris, CfT/ptumerla, Cunning hamia, Frenela, Libocedrus, Sequoia, Taxo- 
dium, Ihuja, Tsuga, etc. 

2 Such as the Cephalotaxis, Dacrgdium, Gnetum, Podoca7'pus, Salisburia, 
Taxus, Torrega, etc. 



42 Planting in Seed- Beds and Nurseries. 

grain should be thin, so as not to smother the seedlings that they 
were intended to protect. 

158. Other writers jorefer the first heat of spring, for the sowing 
of conifers, excepting the silver-hr (Abies pectinata) , which should not 
be kept over winter, as it quickly looses its life, and can hardly bear 
transportation for a great distance. In great operations they gener- 
ally divide the sowing between the fall and spring, and take the 
chances for and against in each season. 

159. In the fall of the sarpe year, or in the spring following, the 
plants should be taken up carefully from the seed-beds and set in 
nursery rows. The roots should not be exposed to the air longer 
than is necessary, and those of conifers suffer much sooner than 
those of the deciduous kinds. They will always bear longer exposure 
in autumn than in spring, because the evaporation is then less, and 
the circulati(m is suspended. For this reason fall-setting is advised 
as preferable ; but local climate and circumstances may determine 
one or the other time as the proper one, and in this, experience only 
can decide. 

160. Young trees do best when they are transplanted once or 
twice in the nursery rows, or when they have been simply loosened 
and drawn up, to be at once replaced. This should be done only in 
damp weather. 

161. Finally, when of convenient size, and from tw^o to five years 
of age, the trees should be loosened with a spade-fork, drawn up, 
and carefully transplanted wdiere they are to remain. If they are 
to be carried a considerable distance, they must be carefully packed 
so as to prevent the roots from drying up, yet not so as to entirely 
exclude ihe air. 

162. It will be seen from the foregoing that the management of 
a nursery requires practical skill, and unless the proposed plantations 
are extensive, it will generally be found best to procure the young 
plants from nurserymen, rather than attempt to raise them from 
the seed. This is more particularly true of the conifers, that are as 
a rule more difficult to get started than the deciduous kinds. In ex- 
tensive plantations, it is always preferable to establish nurseries near 
the grounds to be planted, as well to avoid the expense of transporta- 
tion and exposure of roots by removal, as to secure conditions of 
soil that shall be as nearly as possible alike, so that the young 



Planting in Seed- Beds and Nurseries, 43 

trees will suffer less from the change, and be in better condition to 
take a vigorous start. 

163. Trees from nurseries should have their roots exposed as lit- 
tle as possible to the air, and they should be planted ira me J lately 
after they are unpacked. It sometimes happens that lots intended 
for different persons are sent in one box, to one address. If the own- 
ers are not present to receive them, they may lie hours or days in 
the dry air, and when planted the chances are that none will be 
found alive. A little common sense and thoughtful care would 
prevent this disappointment. If the trees can not be at once planted, 
they should be at least " heeled in," by covering the roots with soil, 
and dampening it a little if dry. They may be. sometimes thus 
kept through the winter, in cases where from overflow or mirey soil 
they can not be taken up from the soil where they have been started, 
in time for early jolanting. 

164. The age at which trees should be set for permanence depends 
upon soil, exposure, and other circumstances that render it difficult 
to fix a general rule. For ordinary planting, however, one year in 
the seed-bed and two years in nursery rows, may be stated as the 
general rule. But for exposed hillsides, they do better oftentimes 
when the seedlings one year in the beds, and one year in the rows, 
or two years in the beds and one in the rows, are taken. 

165. In the oak, it has been recommended to cut off the tap-roots 
with a sharp spade, when the plants are young, and before taking 
them from the seed-bed. They are allowed to stand the first win- 
ter, and when re-set the next spring, in nursery rows, the lateral 
roots appear abundantly. In time another tap-root will form, which 
is again cut off before final planting. 

166. Another plan recommended by Duhamel consists in paving 
the seed-bed with flat stones, along the line of the rows, and at a 
proper depth below the surface, so as to stop the descent of the tap- 
roots, and compel the formation of laterals. 

167. More recently a method has been proposed in France, for 
securing a dense growth of lateral roots in the seedling oaks, that has 
been found quite successful.^ The acorns are thickly spread over a 

1 M. H. Levret, in a publication by the French Forest Administration, 
issued in 1878. 

The same author suggests another method, which consists in pinching oflf 
the plumule within five or six days after it appears, by which the first im- 



44 Transjplanting : Propagation from Cuttings, etc. 

layer of broken stone, and are covered with as rich a soil as possi- 
ble and watered. This arrangement secures free access by the air, 
and the plants send out an abundance of laterals, which extend up 
into the soil above them, and to but a limited extent downward. 
By covering a very hard stony surface with a very rich soil, nearly 
the same result is obtained.^ 

Spring or Fall Transplanting. 

168. As to the time of transplanting no general rule may be given. 
In some countries, as in France, fall planting after the September 
rains, does best for the deciduous kinds, and spring, at the time 
when vegetation is just beginning to start, for the conifers, or resin- 
ous kinds. 

169. When young plants are taken up in the dormant season of 
vegetation, their roots sufter less from exposure to the air than when 
the season of active growth is just beginning, and they will then 
doubtless bear transportation better. There are, in short, both ad- 
vantages and disadvantages attending both fall and spring planting, 
and a safe rule would be to experiment upon both in new localities, 
before definitely adopting either to the exclusion of the other season. 
It would be unsafe to accept these results as final, until they had 
been tested for a series of years, because one winter might be un- 
usually open, or a spring or summer exceptionally dry ; or some 
other cause not of ordinary occurrence, may affect a result that 
would not occur again for many years. 

3. Propagation from Cuttings, Layers, and other Methods. 

Cuttings. 

170. If we take healthy and vigorous shoots from the last year's 
growth, of many deciduous trees, and notably the cottonwood pop* 
lars and willows, and thrust them into the ground, they will under 
favorable conditions put forth roots from the lower end and the buds 

pulse of growth is thrown with greater force into the root. He proposes to 
shade the seed-beds witli thin (;U)th, whieli admit sufficient ligiit, and all the 
rain, and prevent damages from frost. Upon the stone seed beds he would 
place acorns at the rate of 1,000 to the square meter, or about 810 to a square 
yard. 

^ See preceding note. 



Propagation by Cuttings, Layers and Grafting. 45 

that are covered, and become separate trees. They should only be 
taken when the leaves are off, and should be set early in spring. 
The lower end should be cut off smoothly and obliquely, and care 
should be taken not to injure the bark in setting. 

171. If the shoots are cut late in fall and are put away in a damp 
cellar, or if tliey are buried below the reach of frost, a callus will 
form at the lower end, from which the roots will readily spring. In 
the finely divided sod of the prairies, they should be set deep, and 
in a dry climate but one or two buds above the surface will be suf- 
ficient. The soil should be pressed down firmly around the shoots, 
at the time of setting, and they should be kept free from weeds till 
they shade the ground. Cuttings may be set in the fall, if covered 
with a mulch in winter. This is done with gooseberries, currents, 
and the grape, but is not so certain as in early spring. 

Layers. 

172. This method, in common use among nurserymen, is some- 
times employed to get an independent root to a branch before sepa- 
rating it from the parent tree. The branch is bent down into a 
hollow place made in the soil, confined by a peg or a stone and the 
end turned up, so that the leaves are exposed to the air. It is 
generally well to partly cut off the branch at the lowest part, leaving 
the upper half entire. The ground should be kept clear of weeds, 
and should be watered in a dry time, while the new roots are form- 
ing. After they have become well rooted, such plants may be care- 
fully cut apart from the stock, and transplanted like seedling 
sprouts. This is a very sure and convenient way to perpetuate va- 
rieties of fruit and ornamental trees, and is usually done in autumn. 
It does not apply to coniferous kinds. 

Grafting. 

173. This is one of the most common and certain ways of perpet- 
uating varieties in fruit and ornamental trees. It is done chiefly \v\ 
spring, and before the leaves appear, and is most likely to succeed in 
mild moist weather. The stock should generally be a little more 
advanced than the scion, and to secure this the latter should be cut 
in winter, or even in autumn, and kept in a cool moist place, as in 
a cellar, with the ends set in damp moss or fine soil. They should 
be taken from thrifty shoots of the last year's growth. If cut from 



46 Propagation by Grafting aud Budding, 

lower branches, they will fruit sooner, but do not grow to so hand- 
some a shape as those from the center or top of the tree. They are 
often taken from young trees in nursery rows. 

174. There are various modes of grafting, which need not here 
be described in detail. They agree in bringing the newly cut surfaces 
of the scion aud the stock together, so that the fresh bark and 
young wood of each are in close contact, the wound covered from 
the air by some plastic substance, and the parts held together till 
they unite. This is done by splicing, inserting in a clef, by binding 
two branches or trunks togetlier, after cutting away the bark and 
wood of each so that they may be closely united, and in various 
other ways. Where two living trees are thus united, the connection 
is cut away from one of them, after the union is complete. 

175. Budding, is the insertion of the bud of one tree under the 
bark of another, and covering and securing it till a union forms. 
It is done in midsummer and early autumn, from the 1st of July 
till the middle of September, and only v.hen the bark of the stock 
will separate from the wood. Annular budding consists in taking 
a ring of bark from one tree, containing a bud, and placing it 
around a branch of the same size, from which a similar piece of bark 
has been taken in another tree. Sometimes a piece less than the 
entire size is inserted. By this means the injuries to bark by mice, 
etc., may sometimes be repaired. 

176. By the aid of cuttings, grafts, and layers, w^e are able to se- 
cure the growth of some kinds of trees that never bear seed in the 
climate where they may be grown by transplanting, and especially 
we may perpetuate varieties to indefinite extent by these methods. 

177. As examples of this, we find the Lombardy poplar, the 
weeping willow, and cut-leaved varieties of the birch, alder, beech, 
maple, etc., under cultivation, that w^ould be lost in a single gener- 
ation of tree-life, if they depended upon growth from the seeds. 
The sumac, so successfully grown in Southern Europe, does not 
ripen its seeds, even in Sicily, where it grows to the greatest per- 
fection ; and the English elm ( Ulmus campestris) is almost always 
grown from layers, or suckers, taken from old trees, or by grafting 
upon other stocks. It may even be grown in moist rich soils, by 
burying the chips having bark with buds upon them, if these are 
cut in early spring, and planted at once before drying. 



Modes of Planting Trees, 



47 



CHAPTER VI. 

PLANTING. — {Continued,) 
Tlie Interval betivecn Trees in Planting. 

178. Upon a rocky and broken surface, no attention need be 
given to the regularity of spaces, the most convenient spots being 
taken "wherever found, and often different species, as places best 
suited for their growth occur. But in a level, or moderately un- 
even country, there are great advantages to be gained from planting 
at fixed intervals. We will notice 

some of the methods that may be 
followed : 

Planting in Rows. 

179. In this, the intervals may be 
wider apart in one direction than 
in the other. The rows may be 
from 4 to 8 feet or more apart at 
first, and the trees in the rows from 

3 to 6 feet. The advantages of this are, that the spaces between 
can be cultivated more easily for the first years, and by taking out 
alternate rows, as the trees become 
crowded, we can pass in between 
the trees in removing the products. 




26. Mode of Marking for Trees Planted 
ill Kows. 



9- 



0- 



-^ 



0- 



Q- 



-0 



O- 



<> 



e- 



-^ 



Mode of Markin.a: for Trees Planted 
in Scuares. 



Planting in Squares. 

180. In this, the spaces are at 
equal distances in both directions ; 
and in this, as in the preceding, 
regularity may be secured by mark- 
ing the ground after it is prepared, 

and by planting at all the intersections of the right-angled lines, 
omitting none. 

Quincunx Order. 

181. Here the trees are set at the corners of squares and in the 
central point within. The trees range in rows horizontally, ver- 
tically, and diagonally, and if the trees in the former are 10 meas- 



48 



Modes of Planting Trees. 



ures apart, the diagonals wiJl be slightly more than 14. This reg- 
ularity is best secured by marking 
the ground off into small squares, 
and planting in alternate points of 
intersection each way, as shown in 
tbe margin. (Fig. 29.) 



tf- — -^1^ 



2B. Mode of Planting in Quincunx 
Order. 



^r- 



.5- 



-^ 



^>- 




-d- 



-# 



^— ! 



-# 



--# 






4^ 



29. Mode of INrarkincr for Quincunx 
I'lautiuff. 




30. Triangular Order of Plantiiij 




SI. Mode of Parallel INIarking to 
secure the Triangular Order. 



The Triangular Order. 

182. In this, the rows run in 
three directions, the trees being at 
equal distances in each at the cor- 
ners of equilateral triangles ; or, 
combining six of these triangles, 
we find that each tree is the center 
of a hexagon, witli six trees at 
equal distances around it. We get 
the same arrangement by drawing 
a series of circles having equal 
radii, and so that the circumference 
of each passes through the centers 
of all of those around it. We nearly 
secure this in a jjractical way, by 
IT marking off a field by parallel 
lines, crossing at right angles, and 
at twice the distance apart in one 
direction more than in the other. 
If we plant at the alternate points 
of intersection, we shall have the 
triangular order. By plowing in 
the three directions between the 
rows, such plantations may be cul- 
tivated in the same way as squares, 
but the rows must be wider apart 
in order to do this to advantao-e. 



Tables showing Number of Trees. 



49 



183. Number of Trees that may be set upon a Piece of Land 100 
Yards Square on a side, in Right-angled Rows of equal and un- 
equal Distances apart 



Hi 
















• 






in 

tr. y=;r 








Yards bet\\ 


een Rows. 










1.0 


1 5 


2 


2.5 


3.0 


3.5 


4 


4.5 


5 


5 5 


5 


20,000 


]3,3:];l 


10.000 


8,000 


6,667 


5,714 


5,000 


4,444 


4.000 


3,636 


10 


lii.dOO 


(JX>C>7 


5.000 


4.000 


3,333 


2,857 


2.500 


2,222 


2,0:)0 


1,818 


1 5 


GJyCu 


4,4^4 


3.333 


2,667 


2 222 


1,905 


1,667 


1,481 


1,333 


1,212 


2 


5,0n0 


3,333 


2,500 


2,000 


1,667 


1,429 


1,2.50 


1,111 


1,000 


909 


2 5 


4.000 


2,007 


2,000 


1,600 


1,333 


1,143 


1,000 


8S9 


800 


727 


3 


3, •> vl 


2,222 


1.667 


1 ,333 


1,111 


952 


833 


741 


667 


606 


3 n 


2,^57 


].905 


1,429 


1,1-13 


952 


816 


714 


035 


571 


519 


4 


2,500 


1,007 


1.250 


1,000 


83.] 


714 


625 


556 


500 


455 


4 5 


2,2'J2 


1.4S1 


1,111 


889 


741 


6:]5 


556 


494 


444 


404 


5.0 


2.000 


1,-333 


1,000 


800 


667 


571 


500 


414 


400 


364 


5.5 


1,S18 


1,212 


909 


727 


606 


519 


455 


404 


364 


333 


6 


1,607 


1.111 


833 


667 


556 


476 


417 


370 


333 


303 


6 5 


1,5.38 


1,020 


769 


615 


513 


440 


385 


342 


30,H 


280 


7.0 


1,429 


952 


714 


571 


476 


408 


357 


317 


2,^6 


260 


7.5 


i..3;r, 


889 


667 


533 


444 


381 


3]3 


296 


267 


242 


8 


1.250 


83:] 


625 


500 


417 


357 


313 


278 


250 


227 


8 5 


1,1 70 


7S1 


5.SS 


471 


392 


336 


294 


261 


235 


219 


9.0 


i,in 


71 L 


556 


494 


370 


317 


278 


247 


222 


202 


10.0 


1,000 


667 


500 


400 


333 


286 


250 


222 


200 


100 



lu tliis table we may substitute any other denomination of linear 
measure in place of yards. 



184. Comparison between the Numbers set in Squares and in Quincunx 

Order. 





/I * 

a" 


1— ( 
^ p P 


In Triang 
Quincu 
der — 


CO 


In Squa 
Rows a 
Angles 


In Trianc 
Quincu 
der 


CD a. 

CD CO 
M 


In Squa 
Rows a 
Angles. 


In Triang 
Quincu 
der 




fD 


c-r -i 


■ ^ d 


o 


r+ -1 


3 a 


(D 




^ d 




^ 


?3m 


; X ^ 


^ 


1— |fD 






• It-'' 


p 




fO 

3 


CO 


:?i 


fD 

J3 


; cr? 

• S'O 

• rt. -i 


?i 


(D 

fD 


: 0? 


9^ 

i' 'i 


5 A 


,0000 


46.188 


3.5 


816 


943 


6 5 


2:M 


273 


10 1 


,0000 


11,547 


4 


625 


722 


7 


204 


236 


15 


4.444 


5,132 


4 5 


494 


570 


7.5 


178 


205 


2 


2,500 


2,887 


5.0 


400 


462 


8 


150 


180 


2 5 


1,600 


1.848 


5 5 


333 


382 


9 


123 


143 


3.0 


1,111 


1,283 


6.0 


278 


321 ] 


0.0 


100 


115 



*We may substitute any other unit of linear measure, as in preceding table. It 
will be seen that a little over 15 per cent is gained in number by the quincunx ar- 
rangement. 



50 Close Plantivg and its Effect. 

185. Kiimber of Trees required to Plant an Acre of Land in Squares, 
or r,i lioivs at liujld Angles, and at equal Distances apart both ways. 



Feet 


Number 


Feet 


Number 


Feet 


Number 


Feet 


Number 


between 


of 


between 


of 


between 


of 


between 


of 


Kuws. 


Trees. 


liows . 


Trees. 


Rows. 


Trees. 


Kuws. 


Trees. 


10 


4n.or,0 


7.0 


8S9 


13 


257 


19 


120 


15 


vx?,m 


7 5 


779 


13 5 


2:19 


19 5 


114 


2 


10,890 


8 


GSO 


11 


2J2 


20 


108 


2 5 


6,'J70 


8 5 


603 


14 5 


207 


22 


90 


3.0 


4,K-J0 


9 


537 


15 


193 


24 


75 


0.5 


3,556 


9.5 


482 


15 5 


l.Sl 


26 


64 


4.0 


2,722 


10 


435 


16 


170 


28 


55 


4 5 


2,151 


in 5 


395 


16 5 


164 


80.0 


48 


5.0 


1,7'^2 


11 


300 


17 


150 


40 


27 


5 5 


1.440 


11 5 


339 


17 5 


142 


50.0 


17 


r. 

f) 5 


1 '^10 


]9 


3(12 


18 


134 






1,"031 


12 5 


270 • 


18 5 


127 











The Necessity of Close Planting. 

186. As a general rule, all trees growing in an open space have a 
tendency to spread out laterally, and not to grow as liigh as where 
they are surrounded by other trees. This tendency to branch from 
near the ground is greater in a dry climate and in places exposed to 
strong winds. It is therefore a common practice among skilled for- 
esters to plant the trees much nearer together than they could stand 
when mature, and thin them out as they become larger. 

187. We see this thinning-out process going on naturally in the 
native woods, where the stronger shade out and kill off the feebler, so 
that but a few of the many that started as seedlings come to matur- 
ity. It is best to do this at proper times, without waiting for this 
dying, and, as a general rule, it should be done at stated times and 
throughout a given piece of woodland at about the same time. If 
delayed too long, the stems of the trees will be slender and feeble. 
If done too soon, the effect of shade in carrying up the tree is lost. 
No fixed rules can be given for thinning, and the judgment of the 
forester with the conditions before him should be the principal guide. 
As a general fact, the conifers require less space than deciduous 
trees. 

188. It is an excellent practice in the planting of valuable kinds, 
tliat w^e wish to have grow straight and high, to place them in al- 
ternate rows, and in alternate places in the rows, with other trees 
of more rapid growth, but it may be of less value. The latter may 
be taken out when their shelter and protection are no longer needed, 



Seedling Plants from, the Forest. 51 

and wlieu tlie kinds we wish to preserve have grown so as to soon 
shade the whole of the ground. 

189. The oak is found to thrive exceedingly well while young 
when thus surrounded by pines. The willow and the Cottonwood 
are excellent nurses for other trees, such as the walnut and the ash. 
In alternate rows of willows and walnuts, the latter were found at 
four years' growth at Lincoln, Nebraska, to be from three to five 
feet high and very thrifty, while in a full exposure to the sun they 
were but eighteen inches high and very scrubby. 

Tlie Plant'mg of Young Trees from the Forest. 

190. In transplanting native seedlings from the woods, we should 
select those that are somewhat separate from the rest, and best 
exposed to the air and light. If taken from a dense shade into the 
full light of day, the change may be too severe, even where the ut- 
most care is taken to prevent exposure of the roots to the air — a pre- 
caution in which we can not be too careful. 

191. The roots should be at once dipped in a puddle of rich soil, 
and packed in a box, standing upright, but not too close, and only 
one course in a box. They should not be too closely covered from 
the air, and should be set with as little delay as possible in nursery 
rows, or for permanence, the place being previously well prepared. 
Wild conifers should be cultivated two or three years before final set- 
ting. The process of taking them from their native place is much 
more likely to succeed when the air is humid, as in foggy and low- 
ering weather, and is greatly jeopardized by a cokl dry wind. 

192. The trees taken small, and with an abundance of fibrous 
roots, are much more likely to succeed than those of a large size. 
They will get a better start, and in a few years equal and surpass 
those that were transplanted at a more advanced age. In most 
kinds, it is necessary to shorten the branches so that they may bear 
some proportion to the root. It is a good plan to cover the wounds 
with coal-tar or paint, but quite often the buds start out and 
branches form at some distance from the ends, which dry up and 
finally break off. It is a very common thing to see maple and other 
trees set from the woods with a dead stick coming out among the 
lower branches, it being the top of the original tree. These should 
be broken or cut off close to the trunk, so as to allow the wood on 
the side to grow over them. If too large, and left too long, they 



52 Plant'mg in the Soil: Transplanting. 

may cause a rotten cavity to form, tending to make the tree hollow 
and short-lived. 

193. In transplanting the oaks and some other hard woods, where 
the growth is languishing and the shoot is small, it is an excellent 
plan to cut off the stem near the ground, after the root has got 
started. This is best done when the leaves are off, in fall or winter. 
The shoot that comes up in such cases from the root will grow vig- 
orously and much more rapidly than if left as before. 

194. In *^ grub'jjrairies,'' in the Northwestern States, the soil is 
full of the roots of trees and bushes, often of the jack-oak, hazel, 
etc., that have been killed back to the roots by annual fires. They 
-will sprout and grow if protected from cattle and from fires, and 
gradually oth^r kinds will come in, displpvcing the first inferior kinds 
und forming a forest of more valuable trees. The change thus pro- 
duced in twenty years in Wisconsin and Minnesota, where these 
grub-prairies are chiefly found, is sometimes remarkable. 

Planting 07i the Sod. 

195. In loose and very damp soils, it is sometimes found advan- 
tageous to plant wholly upon the surface, by simply spreading out 
the roots and turning the surrounding soil over them, so as to form 
a little conical mound. The soitthus heaped up around the trees is 
then covered, if convenient, with mosses or other non-conducting 
substances, and on the outside some inverted sod. 

196. The trees thus set should have no tap root. An abundance 
of fine fibrous roots may be secured to help the first growth by sfft- 
ing well-rotted leaf-mold over the roots as they are placed. From 
careful observation it is found that these mounds retain the heat of 
the day and cool slower in the night — that the evaporation from 
them is less than from flat surfaces, and that there is a perceptible 
disengagement of carbonic acid gas in the interior from the decom- 
position going on in the grass and other herbage that is covered. 
This method enables us to plant in places with less drainage, by rais- 
ins; the roots a little hio-her. 

The Transplanting of young Trees without Disturbing the Fibers of the 

Roots. 

197. The exposure of the roots of seedlings to the air, and es- 
pecially to the sun and to dry winds, is generally to be avoided as 



Transplanting without Disturbing the Soil. 53 



much as possible, and conifers are particularly sensitive in this re- 
spect. If the fibers of their roots are once dry, they are generally 
injured beyond remedy. In handling young evergreen seedlino:s, 
if there is an interruption of the work but for a short time, the roots 
should be covered with earth, or some other protection should be 
given them for retaining their moisture and preventing evap- 
oration. 

198. This sensitiveness of roots to the air has led to various de- 
vices for removing young trees and small seedlings without disturb- 
ing the roots. A " bore-spade " was invented many years ago by 
Dr. Heyer, of Giesseu, for the purpose of transplanting young pines, 
and is often used in Europe for this purpose. It consists simply of 
a spade, Avith the blade bent almost into a cylindrical form, and from 
four to six inches across on the inside. The side opposite the handle 
is open, so as pass it around the young tree. It is then pressed 
down with the foot and turnedaround, loosenimj and includimr the 
roots and all the soil around them, which may then be set in its new 
place, if not distant, without the least disturbance of the soil within. 
Several thousand plants may be set from a seed-bed to nursery rows 
in a day with this simple instrument. 

199. The patent office records in Washington contain various 
other devices for this object, in some of which two concave blades 
are connected, so as to act as i)incers, to embrace a cylindrical ball 
of earth around the roots, and compress it as it is raised. 

200. A simple contrivance consisting of four spades is sometimes 
used, in which the blades are pressed down inside of a frame serv- 
ing as a fulcrum, and the handles are 
spread apart and fastened by pins in 
cross-pieces passing through their 
handles, as shown in the engraving 
in the margin. All of these methods 
are limited in their application to 
young trees, and to those that are to 
be carried but short distances. In 
the one last described, two sides of 
the frame that form the fulcrum are 
extended out into handles, so that 
the whole may be carried by two men, like a burden on a hand-bar- 
row. In light and dry sandy soil, none of them would j^i^event the 




:. Four Spa(U"i in a portable Frame 
for removing the Soil with the Koots 
in transplanting small Trees. 



•54 Transplanting without Disturbance of Soil. 

sand from escaping, and only the methods described in §§ 202 or 
203 could be employed. 

201. For larger trees, an excavation may be made, leaving a mass 
of earth, nearly cylindrical, but rather smaller below, still in place 
and undisturbed around the roots, and this may be bound with 
hoops, or with coarse cloths, so as to keep the soil in place until the 
removal is finished. We notice, in §§ 205 and 206, other methods 
in speaking of the removal of large trees. 

202. For young seedlings of cinchonas and other trees difficult to 
transplant, it is the custom in India to start the seeds in pieces of 
bamboo filled with rich soil, and at first set as close together as they 
can stand, for better management in sprouting. In this way they 
maybe watered, shaded, and otherwise attended, as found necessary, 
and until they have grown to a size that will enable them to stand 
open exposure in the free air. They are then taken up, with the 
bamboo shell still upon them, and set for permanence, the roots soon 
finding their way through, as the shell decays. These shells are 
three or four inclies in diameter, and prove amply sufficient when 
cut in lengths of five or six inches. The coflfee-trees in Brazil are 
started in earthera jars, so constructed that they can be carried to 
the place of planting in the field, and the contents then transferred 
entire to the ground where the trees are to grow. 

203. Slightly-made baskets of strong paper, reeds, bark, rushes, 
or thick wood-shavings, would ausv/er the same purpose, if made 
of perishable material, sufficiently strong to last till the removal. 
By this means, with careful packing and handling, seedling plants 
can be transported safely to considerable distances. The expense 
would, however, limit its application to experimental plantations in 
the way of acclimatization, or to the propagation of trees for orna- 
mental or special purposes. 

204. Seeds started in wooden boxes, large enough to hold a dozen 
or two of seedlings, may be kept together for watering and attend- 
ance, occupying no more space than so many plants in a seed-bed, 
and then may be carried to the place where the plants are to be set. 
With proper care, they may be taken out with a curved trowel, and 
set without disturbing the soil. Slight shaving or pasteboard parti- 
tions, dividing the box into compartments, would facilitate the sep- 
aration, and prevent the fibers from interlocking. This method is 
employed in planting the eucalyptus trees in the unhealthy district 



Transplanting of Large Trees. 55 

near the city of Rome. By any of these methods of carrying the 
plants with the soil still around tlie roots, the operation of planting 
may be carried on all summer, and wliere the climate permits, at all 
seasons of the year. 

The Transplanting of Large Trees. 

205. This is always an expensive and uncertain operation, partic- 
ularly with the evergreens. It is sometimes done with much success, 
where the tree is well supplied with fibrous roots near the trunk, by 
digging a trench around the tree at some distance, in the fall, and 
allowing the soil to freeze into a solid mass, which may be moved 
without separating it from the roots. In such cases, it is sometimes 
practiced to take off the surface soil, if not already rich, and to 
spread in its place other soil of great fertility, and to dig and fill 
the trench, as above described, Avith rich soil, a year or two before the 
time of removal. An abundance of fine fibrous roots will form in 
such cases in the fertile soil, which will tend to render the removal 
more certain of success. 

20(j. In removing large evergreens, it is best done just as the veg- 
etation is starting, by carefully following out and taking up the 
roots as far as possible, and wrapping them up in wet moss or hay 
as fast as they are taken out. When they have been thus taken 
from the soil, and protected from the air, the tree may be drawn to 
its new place^ set upright, and well stayed ; the covering should 
then be removed from the roots, which should be carefully spread 
out and immediately covered with fine rich damp soil. The whole 
should be well watered as soon as the planting is finished, and from 
time to time in dry weather, until the roots have got well started. 

207. It is generally a good rule, and in light prairie soil absolutely 
necessary, to press down the earth firmly, not only in the hole be- 
fore the tree is placed, but also upon the roots after planting; but 
in heavy clay soils this would do more harm than good. As a rule, 
the tree should be set deeper than before. The roots should not be 
cramped or doubled back, but as wide a space should be allowed as 
they may need, and they should be carefully sjoread before being 
covered. 

208. In bracing trees, strong wire is better than cords, which are 
apt to shrink when wet, and blocks of wood should be placed where 
they are fastened to the tree, to prevent them from galling the bark. 



56 Transplanting of Large Trees and Cuttirigs. 

Heavy stones placed over the roots will sometimes serve to keep 
them steady, as well as to keep the soil from drying. A mulching 
of straw or litter from tlie woods is always useful, and sometimes 
necessarv, to keep the ground moist, and to screen it from tlie sun. 
Decaying wood-chips afford a most excellent top-dressing around 
trees of every kind. 

209. Trees should be kept free from weeds and grass. A firm 
sod prevents the air and rains from penetrating the soil. A thin 
covering of stable manure over the roots of trees in winter will have 
an excellent effect upon the next year's growth. Various mineral 
salts, such as the nitrate of soda, and the phosphate of lime, as well 
as guano and other fertilizers, may sometimes be used to great advan- 
tage in nurseries and orchards, and in ornamental plantations gen- 
erally, but are usually too expensive for j)rofitable forest-culture. 

The Disadvantages of Planting Cottonwood, and other Trees, from Cut- 
tings of too great Size. 

210. In the Western States, in Colorado and elsewhere, it has been 
the custom to set out poles of cotton wood, and of some of the other 
poplars and the willows, of considerable size, and without root or 
branch. In some cases, telegraph poles of cottonwood have thus 
taken root and become trees, where the soil was damp and all the 
conditions of growth were favorable. ^ * 

211. But it has been found tnat such trees generally become hol- 
low in a few years, and are short lived. The reason is obvious. 
The end in the ground readily absorbs moisture and decays, for it 
can never grow over like the wound formed on the trunk, after the 
amputation of a branch, and will remain exposed to all the agencies 
that cause decay, however vigorous the new growth may be around 
it. The top of such a pole will become dry, and the buds that start 
from the sides will come out at some distance below the end. This 
dead part finally become quite rotten, leaving a cavity that grad- 
ually extends down the trunk till it meets the one that is com- 
in^i- up from below. The success that such trees promise for the first 
few years is generally illusory, and it would be much more satisfac- 
tory to take smaller cuttings, which would, when well supplied Avith 
moisture, make a very rapid growth, and remain sound throughout. 
They might even overtake and surpass those that were planted of 



Planting of Slopes and Banks. 57 

large size, and they Avill certainly outlive them in almost every 

instance. 

Planting of Rocky Surfaces. 

212. It is one of the peculiar merits of Forest-culture, that it may 
be practiced upon broken and rocky surfaces that could not be plowed, 
or scarcely pastured, provided always that there is depth and quan- 
tity of soil among the stones, and in the crevices, to give a hold to 
the roots of the trees, and moisture enough in the soil to afford them 
adequate supj^ort. 

213. No general rule can be given for the starting of woodlands 
upon such surfaces, where so much depends upon the circumstances. 
In doing this, it is well to study the indications afforded by nature, 
in the casual growth of trees in the region around, or the experi- 
ence gained by artificial planting. The yield in growth of wood 
upon such stony surfaces may sometimes be equal to that upon 
smooth level land, and return a fair profit, where nothing else could 
be raised. 

214. In planting upon a hill-side of moderate declivity, it is gen- 
erally preferable to plow the laud and to set the rows of trees in 
l.nes parallel with the base, or at right angles with the slope. The 
reason of this is, that the soil becomes less exposed to the wash of 
the rains, when so cultivated. The water from rains and melting 
snows is-Tield in place, and tends to sink into the earth, instead of 
running off on the surface. 

215. Upon very steep declivities of friable and decomposing rock, 
it is sometimes practicable to secure sufficient soil for the roots of 
trees, by digging horizontal terraces or notches at convenient inter- 
vals, securing their outer edge wdth brush held in place with pegs. 
In a year or two these notches will have probably become filled up 
by the crumbling away of the rock above, and in the soil thus 
iormed trees may be planted with a prospect of success. 

216. This form of planting becomes necessary in restoring a 
wooded covering to eroded mountain sides. Besides its use in re- 
boisement, as described on a subsequent page, it might sometimes 
be used with advantage to secure the soil upon crumbling banks that 
overhang highw^ays and railroads, and in other situations wdiere 
danger may be expected from the sliding or washing of the soil. 



58 Management after Planting. 

Mulching. 

217. In transplanting trees in a dry season, and especially in a 
dry climate, it is often necessary to place on the surface a covering 
of straw, litter, or other porous material, to protect the ground from 
the heating and drying influences of the sun and the winds. It 
also has an effect in preventing the growth of grass and other herb- 
age, and to retain the moisture of rains. In a very dry climate, it 
may be found the only means by which trees may be made to sur- 
vive the trial of the first one or two seasons, and it may need to be 
continued until the ground is well shaded. 

It was found on the college farm at Lincoln, Nebraska, that the 
soft maple grew in much more regular shape, and more thriftily, 
when planted singly and for shade trees, where the ground around 
them was well covered with mulching, and the stems protected by 
wild grass or other substances tied around them to keep off the sun. 
When not so treated, the tops grew one-sided, and the trees soon 
died. Examples might be multiplied indefinitely to prove the ben- 
efits to be derived from this practice, both in regard to fruit and 
forest trees. Of course, when this becomes an absolute requirement 
of the climate, the cultivation of forests for profit is wholly unprof- 
itable, and it must be limited to orchards and ornamental planting. 

Of TJiinning. 

218. As elsewhere repeatedly stated, trees should be made to 
form a straight and tall body Avhile young, by being somewhat 
closely plaute<j, but should not be allowed to crowd too closely. A 
part must be taken out from time to time, to give the remainder a 
chance at the air and light. It should begin when we see it is 
needed, and is best done at one time for a given piece of woodland, 
rather than irregularly. The intervals of time must be regulated 
by circumstances, and should be greater as the trees become large. 
The only general rule to be followed is, that the trees should not be 
allowed to interlock their branches, and that the ground should be 
at all times well shaded. The effect is realized within a year or 
two in the vigorous growth of the branches that hasten to fill up 
the void spaces thus formed, and in the increased volume of the 
wood that is formed. 



Management after Planting. 



59 




Trimming and Pruning. 

219. Where forests are cultivated ou a large scale, and for profit, 
nothiug can be done in the way of pruning. This must be left to 
natural agencies, and if a proper density of growth is maintained, 
it will take care of itself. But in small groves, and especially in 
avenues of trees by the roadside, or plantations around dwellings, 
or in village streets and city parks, the growth and aj^pearance of 
the trees may be greatly improved by judicious attention. 

220. It is preferable to cut off a branch close to the tree, rather 
than to leave a stub. The incision should be left as smooth as pos- 
sible, and it is of great advantage to cover the 
wound with coal tar. If left to rot off, the 
branch may form a wound like the one shown 
on the left-hand side of the annexed cut ; but if 
smoothly cut off, it may close up completely in 
a few years. These cavities may extend down 
to the root, and they not only shorten the life of 
a tree, but tend to render its timber worthless. 
Where large cavities are thus formed in a favor- 
ite tree, the injury may be somewhat delayed by 
covering the opening with heavily painted canvas 
or other material that w^ill conceal somewhat the 
deformity, and keep out the rain. 

221. In cutting off large branches, it is nec- 
essary to first make an incision ou the under side, 
so as to prevent it from tearing down the side of 
the tree as it falls. The annexed cut, at A and 
i>, shows the way this can be done. After the 
branch is off, the stump can be smoothed 
off, so as to leave a clean incision. It is found 
very advantageous to apply coal tar to such 
"svounds. 

222. The season of the year has much to do 
with the success of pruning. It should generally 
be done after the growth of the season has been 
formed, and close to the trunk. If left in pegs, 
they will disfigure the iree, and heal over with 35. Tree that has been 
difficulty. The unsightly growth shown in the v^^^^^^ ^-^^i^ n. ^^xm• 



33. A Wound well 
liealed and one 
badly healed in 
Timber. 




34 



Proper Mode of 
cnttins: off Large 
Branches. 




60 



Tririimivg and Pruning. 




36. A Tree that has 
been Pruned som(> 
distance from the 
Trunk. 



annexed engraving is very common in the button-wood, when care- 
lessly pruned, or otherwise injured. 

223. As for dead branches, such as we often 
see on the lower part of the trunks of coniferous 
trees, they may be cut at all seasons, and the 
sooner the better, if we would improve the qual- 
ity of their wood. It becomes, however, in ex- 
tensive woodlands an expensive process, and 
practically it must be left to nature, excepting 
in a favorite grove, or in avenues or upon lawns. 

224. In all forest operations, it is needless to 
remark, that the use of climbing spurs, like 

those employed in repairing telegraphs, must be wholly forbidden, 
as they do irreparable injuries to the bark and the wood, and the 
laws should protect owners from their unauthorized use by any one, 
upon any occasion. 

225. The tools most used in pruning are the saw, with a wide set, 
hand-shears, pruning- 
shears, pruning-chisels, 
attached to long han- 
dles, with an edge that 
cuts in drawing as well 
as in pushing, the com- 
mon ax, and various 
other implements. A 
tool much used in 
France is the scrpe, 

which consists of a heavy blade, with both 
edges sharp, and attached to a short handle. 
It is carried in a leather case, slung over the 
shoulder, and is used very skillfully. For 
small branches, they cut by an upward stroke. 
226. In trimming poplars and willows, the 
whole top of the tree is sometimes cut off. 
Such trees are called "Pollards." They should 
be cut off just above where the lower branches separate, and not as 
shown in the middle figure by the line at A. Such trees will restore 
themselves without showing the effect of the injury, as shown in the 
right-hand figure, if properly cut. The practice tends to render 



37. Iland-Sliears, for 
Pruning. 




39. The Serpe. 




38. Pruning-Phears, for at- 
tachins? to a long Handle. 



40. Pruning Chisels. 



Pollards: Control of Shapes in the Growth. 



61 



trees hollow and unsightly objects, but in some cases it is not with- 
out advantages. Along the Kio Grande Valley, in New Mexico, it 






41. Improper Mode of 
Cutting Pollards. 



42, 43. Proper Modes of Cutting Pollards. 



has long been the practice to thus cut back the tops of cottonwoods 
in order to obtain fuel. 

227. A great advantage is gained in some cases by fore-shortening 
the branches by trimming off their ends, so as to give the top a more 
symmetrical form, and a denser growth. This practice has been 
very fully described, and its advantages shown by the Count Des 
Cars, in France, and previously by the Viscount de Courval. When 
applied to the oak, it has sometimes led to remarkable success in 
growth, and in ornamental planting it may be sometimes apj^lied to 
great advantage.^ 

228. In Italy the olive is thus cut back to secure a more vigorous 
growth of the young wood, and the trunk often becomes hollow, but 
it will survive the injuries for a long time. The marbled and 
gnarled appearance of the grain of this wood, as often seen in orna- 
mental work, is chiefly from this cause. The knotted heads of pol- 
lard poplar trunks are sometimes cut into 
thin plates for fancy work, and produce a 
beautiful effect. 

229. An upright growth may be secured 
by lopping off the side branches, and bend- 
ing the more promising ones upright, secur- 
ing by a pole lashed to the tree, or driven 
into the ground, and sometimes by binding 
one branch around another, as shown in the 
adjacent cuts. 

1 Full accounts of this method and its results may be found in our first Re- 
port upon Forestry (1877), pp. 92, 93, 98. 




44. Modes of securing an 
Upright Growth. 



62 Removal of Outer Bark : Arbor Days, 

Stimidation of the Growth of Trees by removal of outer Bark 

230. Sometimes the peeling off of the outer bark of fruit trees 

will stimulate their growth. The operation should be performed 

just as the cambium layer is forming, which is generally in the 

latter part of June, in the Northern States. The cork tree is found 

in Southern Europe to thrive under peeling, and where elms in Paris 

and elsewhere have been shaved down to the live bark, in the Robert 

process, for destroying the larvae of insects, they have taken a new 

start afterwards. 

Arbor Days. 

231. A pleasant custom was introduced in Nebraska, about 1874, 
at the instance of the State Horticultural Society, of devoting one 
day in spring to the planting of trees. The 2d Wednesday of April 
was designated, and it is claimed that 12 millions of trees were set 
on that day in that state. In Minnesota, the State Forestry Asso- 
ciation designated Tuesday, the 18th of May, i876, for this purpose, 
and 1,342,886 trees were reported as planted on that day. In the 
Year following, the number was 442,558. The Governor of Mich- 
igan, by proclamation dated February 22, 187G, recommended that 
the 15th of April be devoted to planting trees, but we have no 
data as to the result. The Governor of Ohio appointed an Arbor 
Day to be observed on the 27th of April, 1882. 

231J. The custom is admirable as far as it goes, but it is liable to 
interruption from stormy weather, or seasons unusually early or 
backward, and in the granting of premiums for greatest number, or 
best success, it would be much better to have them apply to the 
whole season, leaving the day to be fixed by the planter as suited his 
convenience, and as weather favored. 



Formation and Functions of the Buds. 



03 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE STRUCTUKE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF 

GROWING TREES. 

The Formation and Functions of the Buds. 

232. In common deciduous trees, there begins to form, in mid- 
summer, in the axils of the leaves, a little cellular mass, 
communicating with a medullary ray, partly covered by 
the bark, and usually protected by imbricating scales. 
From these buds or germs, the leaves and blossoms of the 
next season are to grow. The leaf-buds are usually more 
sharp and slender than the flower-buds, a circumstance 
quite noticeable upon the elm, and upon many fruit trees. 

233. The end of a twig is always terminated by a bud, 
which advances as the twig extends in length, by the 
formation of new cells within. Trees and their branches 
increase in length and heiglit by the formation of these 
new cells under the terminal bud, and elongate only 
during the season of active vegetation, in spring and 
early summer. The annexed engravings, from Rossmass- 
ler, represent sections of four kinds of buds. The first is 
a double one of leaf and flower, and the fourth is a flower- 4"). Buds of 
bud only. It will be seen that the rudiments of the future 





d6. Sections of Buds : 1. The Pmc ; 2. The Bird Cherry ; 3. The Oak ; and 4 The 

Aspen. ' 



64 



Classification of Leaves : Chloroj^hyll. 



growth [ire obscurely foreshadowed in these embryo forms, to be 
displayed in full maturity, when the conditions, favor — usually in 
spring, but exceptionally in autumn. The latter cases are rare, 
and occur only when a very dry summer is followed by a very mild, 
humid autumn. 



J 






Mm 



Structure and Function of the Leaves. 

234. Leaves are the respiratory organs of plants. The juices are 
there brought in contact with the air, when certain chemical changes 
occur that fit them for the processes of assimilation that transform 
them into every part of the growing tree or plant. 

235. Trees present an iufiuite variety of forms in their leaves, 
but may be divided into two great classes : the linear, 
or acicular form (sometimes shortened into imbricat- 
ing scales), that distinguish 
the coniferous order, and, with 
a few exceptions, remain green 
during the winter ; and the 
broad-leaved form, supported 
by a network of ribs, and, in 
temperate and cold climates, 
generally falling from the 
trees upon the approach of 
Avinter. The latter are termed 
deciduous, when they fall from 
the trees in autumn, but this term also applies to a 

Pine. small number of the lineardeaved class, such as the 
larch and the bald cypress. A leaf-stem is called a petiole, and 
when there is no stem the leaf is said to be sessile. 

233. The framework of a leaf is filled in witli a cellular structure, 
and these cells are filled with a green matter, in the form of small 
grains, called cldorophjll, and which, appearing through the trans- 
parent walls of the cells, give the leaves their green color. In 
most leaves, the upper side is more charged with chlorophyll than 
the lower, and is tlierefore of a deeper green. The form of these 
cells in the beech leaf are shown in the annexed engraving,^ in 
which 00 is the upper side, and uu the under side ; o, the j)i'iucipal 





48. Leaf of the Mulberry. 



47. Leaves of the 



1 From Ivossmassler. 



Structure and Functions of the Leaves, 



65 



cells of clilorophyll ; /are air spaces; u, niiuute masses of chloro- 
ph}']!, thus brought in near contact; and sj:), " stomata" or breathing 
pores, through ^vhich the air enters. These pores are chiefly 




sp 

49. Vertical Section of a Beech Leaf, very greatly enlarged. 

on the under side of the leaf, and vary in number from 1,000 to 
170,000 to a square inch. In coniferous leaves there is no network 
of ribs, but a longitudinal and sometimes a diverging system of 
fibers. A cross-section shows a symmetrical arrangement of cells, 
some filled with grains of chlorophyll, others with air, and others 
with resinous matter. The arrangement of these cells is constant 
within genera, and to some extent in species, affording character- 
istics upon wdiich classifications have been formed. The stomata 
upon coniferous leaves are more abundant upon the under and lighter 
colored side of the leaves, but in some cases where both sides are 
colored alike, they are found equally on both sides. The ginkgo 
(SaUsbaria adianti folia)), one of the Japanese species that is found 
to thrive in the Middle and Southern States, is a conifer with very 
exceptional form of leaf. It spreads out flat like a fan, and is de- 
ciduous. 

237. The moisture of the soil, is brought up in the form of sap 
from the roots to the leaves, bearing in solution certain mineral and 
organic materials. These are then exposed to the air, and to tlie 
carbonic acid in the air, and under the action of the lio:ht the latter 
is decomposed. Its carbon is retained and oxygen given out. A 
vast amount of evaporation also takes place from the leaves, so that 



66 



Structure of Leaves and of Wood. 



as the sap descends under the bark it is much less M'atery, and is 
charged with the materials that by assimilation may form the new 
layer of wood, and every growing part of the whole structure. 

238. The materials thus won from the earth and the air, are added 
to the tree, as it gains in size, or dropped to tlie earth with the fall- 
ing leaves and the fruit — the leaves to add fertility to the soil, and 
the seeds of the fruit to furnish germs for new creations of the 
parent type. 

239. The form and size of leaves may vary at different ages of the 
tree and upon different parts of the same tree at the same time. Upon 
thrifty young sprouts they are generally larger than upon the old 
branches. As a rule they become smaller at great elevations. In the 
eucalyptus, the young trees bear heart-shaped and horizontal leaves, 
and the old trees sickle-formed leaves that stand in a vertical plane, ex- 
posing both sides to the light, and shading the ground but little. The 
upper leaves upon the holly are less notched and less spiny, when the 
tree becomes old. In certain of the cedars, cypresses, and other con- 
ifers with imbricating leaves, the scales may at certain stages of growth 
elongate into linear leaves, very different from the more usual form. 
The same tree may present both forms at the same time, but the linear 
leaves are more common upon young trees than upon old ones. In 
certain forms of disease, the linear form is sometimes assumed by 
these imbricating leaves. 

Structure of the Wood and Bark. 

240. The trunk of an exogenous tree shows three distinct kinds 
of structure. In the twig of oak of one year's growth, we find the 

inner part is filled with the jnth, m, 
in an extremely light cellular body 
which appears essential to new 
growth, and is always present in a 
twig covered with leaves; but in 
the trunk of the tree it becomes 
nearly or quite obliterated, and in 
fact may perish altogether without 
apparently affecting tlie growth of 
the tree. The pith or medulla is 
surrounded by a sheath of hard 
cellular tissue, and outside of this 




50. Cross-section of an Oak Twig of one 
Year's Growth. (1) 



^This nnd the two following figures are from Eossmussler's work- 
Wald;' pp. 85, 88. 



'Der 



Structure of Wood. 



67 




is a layer of wood, /i, which from the first shows a radiating struc- 
ture — the beginning of the " meduHary rays." Outside of the wood, 
there is formed the cambium layer, c, which is to become a new 
layer of wood. Next a "bast" layer, or inner bark, b, beyond which 
is the bark, r, of coarse cellular structure, and over all an epider- 
mis, 0, covering every part. 

241. When the wood has made two years of growth, the cross- 
section shows the structure represented in the annexed engraving, 
in which in (upper side) 
includes the pith — m\ 
the spongy portion, and 
m (lower side) the "me- 
dullary sheath." The 
'Nvood, h, is the growth 
of two years, and is sep- 
arated by the line, jj. 
The cambium layer is 
shown at c, and outside 
of this is the bark. Fig- 
ures 1 to 7 show the 
medullary rays, which are continued outward through the wood and 
into the bark. The cross-section, Q, the radial section, Sp, and tan- 
gential section, Sc, show the relation which these rays (called by car- 
penters the ''silver grain") bear to the other parts. In the oak 
these rays are very conspicuous. They are also very apparent but 
of much smaller size in the beech, plane tree, maple, etc., while in 
other trees they are scarcely to be seen. 

242. The medullary sheath and rays are composed of condensed 
cellular tissue, and although generally the latter extend through in 
a radial line from the sheath to the bark, and into it, there are many 
secondary rays that form in the wood, and have no connection with 
the pith, or with the other rays. In the conifers, these rays become 
reduced to lines in parallel bauds, too minute to be seen without a 
microscope of high magnifying powers. 

243. As wood is seen under the microscope, it is made up of 
elongated cells overlapping each other, and adhering by their sides. 
They present a great variety of forms, which are often peculiar to 
the families or orders to which they belong. Among these fibers, 
there are numerous ducts and passages. Some contain only air, others 



•n V 

r J "* 

51. Structure of Oak at two Years of A^e. 



68 



Structure of Wood, 



pr 



in their season sap, and others the resinous or other secretions of 
g m pr g p pr the tree. Upon the 

length and adherence 
of these various vessels, 
thesolidi 13^ and strength 
of wood depends. The 
accompanying figure 
represents a longitudi- 
nal section of heech, 
magnified 200 diame- 
ters. In this (J repre- 
sents dotted vessels ; 
_p, short cells with very 
ahrupt ends; pr, elon- 
gated cells with ohlique 
ends ; m, sections 
through the medullary 
rays, and q, examples 
of the lone: annulated 




ff <5 n^ g m g P qqq 

52. Vertical Pcotion of Beech Wood, in a Plane tan- 
gent tj Kings of Annual (irowth. ' 



Different kinds of wood exhibit the radiating structures due 



cells appearing in the sections like rows of spots. 

244 

to tlie medullary rays in different degrees. In some, it is very con 
spicuous in the cross-section, while, in others, it can scarcely be 
traced by the eye, except in thin cross-sections, although always to 
be seen under the microscope. 











4 






f 



— j..^' ^""Vy 



•*^°3f^ 




_\ N \\x S^ \ x.VNi 



53. Different appearances of the Medullary Rays. 



Structure of Wood. 69 

245. In many kinds of the " hard-woods," and especially in the 
oak, ash, elm, etc., each annual layer is more spongy and porous on 
the inner side, and liarder on the outer side. The former is some- 
times called the spring and the latter the autumnal growth. This 
autumnal growth is, however, formed in the summer, and its dens- 
ity and relative thickness appears to depend upon the character of 
the season that follows after it has been deposited. If it remains 
humid and cold, it will be less dense than if it be dry and warm. 
The amount of growth for the year is usually determined by the 
weather in the spring and early summer. 

246. In exceptional cases, such as an early and protracted drouth, 
followed by heavy rains and a Avarm autumn, a second growth may 
start; the buds may expand into leaves, and blossoms may apjDcar. 
In such cases, it is possible for a double ring of growth to form, but 
it will not be entirely distinct in every part. Such an autumn, if 
it is followed by a cold winter, is very apt to prove fatal to trees, or 
at least to check their growth for a time, if it does not destroy them. 

247. In tropical woods, the 

annual layers are obscure, and f^M^H^^}^'£-)0^'^0:'^^'-^^^^^ ':^Si 

the ao-e of a tree can not be ^5^&^^^;A^fv\H:.C-r.v;;/,^:-,';^^ 
ascertained from them. lift -■■^■-^ 

248. In the soft-woods, there 
is scarcely any difference be- 

twppn fhplnvprs! nnd flip «;pnn- 5^- ^eftion of ]\Iiihop:any, shnwinof indistinct 
l\V cen inc lci\ eiS, ana me sepa Layers of Growtii in a Tropical Wood. 

ration between the growth of 

diiferent years is sometimes difficult to find. 

249. Deciduous trees, when stripped of their leaves, as sometimes 
occurs from insect ravages, will put forth a new crop, from the buds 
intended for the next season. The formation of wood is thereby 
greatly checked, and the foliation of the next season weakened. 
The chance of blossoms for the coming year may also be ruined. 

250. In cross-sections made years -^■-^■■■^ ■^■-m^fT^^e'i^'-^-^-" — . --— 
afterwards, the record of the sea- Slf M'ki^si ||-| fill 1 
sons for a long period may be de- ?«^?:?riW:^s sia^ a^.-*, ^ ..^ 

termined, at least in effect, by the 
width of the rings of annual 

g-rOWth. We sometimes find, at 55. Effect of Different seasons upon the 
° . . , Growth of Wood. 

recurring intervals, a narrow ring, 

perhaps in every third year, that may have been caused by the loss 




g5f«**.;iJK3r» 




70 



Structure of Wood. 



of leaves from worms that appear at that interval, and that have 
thus left their record when every other proof of their presence has 
perished. We have seen sections of trees in the museums of Schools 
of Forestry, in which these proofs were recorded through a century 
or more of time, and the years could be definitely fixed by counting 
inward from the year when the tree was felled. 

251. As a rule, the most favorable seasons for the growth of wood 
are those that are warm, cloudy, and humid in the early part of 
summer, followed by very warm and dry weather. The maturing 
process in the newly-formed wood appears to be due to the excess 
of evaporation from the leaves, as compared with the absorption 
from the roots, resulting in a hardening of the tissues, and an im- 
provement in the quality of the new wood. Where the season 
continues wet, this hardening does not take place, and when fol- 
lowed by a severely cold winter, the growth may be checked for 
the season following, or the trees may be killed altogether, or at 
least the branches of younger growth. 

In fact, so many causes affect the amount of growth in different 
years that there may be as much difierence as is shown in the fol- 
lowing engravings : 











56. Differences in the Amount of Annual Growth of Wood, 



Upon irrigated land, in Colorado, the cottonwood has been known 
to grow to a diameter of fourteen inches in eight years. If grown 
in rich, humid soil, but in a confined location, the growth may be 
rapid, but the texture light and spongy, and the Avood of poor 
quality, although of ample volume. Even the teak, one of the 



"^■, --- 



ure. 




Structure of Wood. 71 

strongest of woods, and present- 

mg m its best conditions the '■^is^::^;:-:^"' -'f : .^v^;^^-^ '^ ' '^^^ 

texture shown in the annexed ;|j^S' ¥vi>^ '^^'^ ;JP^ 

engraving, becomes brittle and 

soft, when rapidly grown, and 

does not harden into heavy, 

strong, and durable wood, until 

it has ripened with age. ... -..^ - .„. ^ 

253. Trees grown as reserves, 
in a coppice, and exposed alter- ^7- Wood of Rapid Growth, but Spongy Text- 
nately to the open air and to 
the shade of other trees at dif- 
ferent periods of their growth, 
have a harder wood than those 
grown in masses, but it is apt 
to be knotty from lateral 
branches — and such trees being 
more exposed to the winds and 
to other accidents, do not have 
so straight and regular a body, nor do they grow as high as when 
many are grown together. Such wood does not readily split into 
staves. A difference in the width of wood layers may be caused by 
the greater or less shade in which it has grown, so that the character 
of the seasons can never be learned definitely in the cross section of 
a tree, unless it has grown in an isolated position. Still, from the 
comparison of a great number of facts it might perhaps be possible 
to determine with some certainty the general character of the cli- 
mate by this method. 

254. The wood of conifers, as a rule, is heavier, more elastic, and 
more durable, according as its growth has been slower, and the an- 
nual rings are narrower. We see this shown in the timber from the 
Baltic, and in the Siberian larch. These qualities are found greatest 
in the timber grown in cold climates, and differences may sometimes 
be detected in the north and south sides of the same tree. As a 
general rule, trees growing in swampy land have a more open and 
spongy texture than the same species grown on dryer land. 

255. Cellulose, which constitutes the principal body of wood-fiber, 
is alike in all kinds of wood, when separated from other substances, 



58. Teak Wood. 



72 



Struct U7r. of Wood, 




59. Structure of Co 
nifcrous Woods. 



and consists of about 44 A per cent of carbon, 6.2 per cent of hy- 
drogen, and 40.3 per cent of oxygen. 

250. However plants may differ in form and structure, they are 
all the result of cell-growth. These cells form in the interior of 
pre-existing cells by subdivision, and, by pressing 
upon one another, they elongate into fibrous forms, 
as already shown on page 68. When macerated, 
these fibers may be separated, and sometimes they 
afford differences that enable us to determine the 
class or group to which the woods belong. In the 
coniferse, there are thin places along the sides of 
the cells, which can be readily seen under the mi- 
croscope, and can be found even in the fibers of 
paper made from wood. 
257. In some woods, as, for example, the oak, ash, "svalnut, etc., 
the cells grow to a larger size, so as to be visible to the naked eye. 
Tliese form ducts, which are not continuous for great length, but 
are intermingled in various forms, presenting in cross-sections the 
appearance of pores. They usually contr/m air, an.l at certain sea- 
sons sap. In ascending among these fibers, the sap passes up be- 
tween and among the fibers, and through their partitions. In some 

of the larger ducts, they have a spiral coil 
of fiber, or the sides are made up of rings, 
and they are sometimes marked with dots. 

258. In resinous woods, the turpentine is 
contained iii larger cavities, surrounded by 
smaller cells. The abundance of this product 
depends in a great degree upon the vigor 
of growth, and exposure to the air and light. 

259. The annexed cut shows a section of the 
linden six years old, enlarged about five di- 
ameters, in which the concentric layers are 
distinguished by a somewhat denser and 
slightly colored line along their outer mar- 
gin, and their relation to the bark is shown. 
In this figure, a is the medullary sheath, b 
the liber or inner bark, d the cellular tissues 

e of the bark, e the pith, and / the epidermis 

Section of a Linden Tree ^ „ ,^„f^„ T^r.^,!- 
of Six Years' Growth. ^r OUtCr Oariv. 




60, 



Structure cf Bark. 



73 



560. In the bark itself, an annular layer of growth is also formed 
next to the wood, and in some cases we may count the distinct lay- 
ers of growth of recent years ; but in otlier cases they become a 
hcmogeneous mass, as seen by the naked eye, and the outer layers 
are gradually cast off. In some trees, like the birch and the clierry, 
the outer layers consist of strong fibers, running horizontally around 
the trunk and branches. These may exfoliate in loose shreds. This 
tendency to exfoliation is shown in the plane tree, where the outer 
bark falls off in hard masses, leaving a fresh surface, at first white, 
but becoming greenish, and in the Scotch pine (Pinus i>ylvestris) , in 
which the outer bark peels off in thin flakes from the upper part of 




ff 



h 
gr 



61. Longitudinal Section of the Bark 
of the Linden: showing the minute 
ir.terloeking fibers of the bast-bun- 
dles, crossing the longitudinal 
fibers. (1) 



62. Transverse Section of the Bark of the 
Linden: showing the outer bark, h; 
the green cellular layer, (t ; the bast- 
layer, h; and the edge of contact with 
the \\oo(\, gr; with the medullary rays 
of the bark, m, m, 'in. m, w, extend- 
ing into the green cellular layer. (1) 



the trunk, and from the branches, leaving a smooth and fresh green 
surface. 

2G1. When the bark and w'ood of a tree are cut or wounded by 
accident, as by the marking-hammer of the forester, or the ax of a 



1 From Ivossmassler. 



74 



Structure and Growth of Wood. 



surveyor, the growth from the side will gradually close over the in- 
jury, and fill in the inequalities, so that, when afterwards split off, 
it will often show in relief any depressions or cuts on the original 

I. trunk. Many Forest Academies 

in Europe have in their museums 
specimens of timber-marks thus 
cut or stamped into wood, with the 
cast taken by nature from the 
mold. The land-marks of surveyors 
have thus been found more than a 
hundred years afterwards. Some 
scar, or, in coniferous trees, per- 
haps a gum-spot, would be noticed 
upon the outside, and by cutting 
down through as many rings of 
growth as there had been years 
since the former survey, the marks 
of the ax would be found. 

Groiuth of. the Trunk and Brandies. 

2G2. The successive layers of 
wood in the trunk and branches 
extend over their whole surface, 
more or less uniformly, as is shown 
in the accompanying sketch. The 
inequalities in thickness, often seen, 
are caused by differences of nutri- 
tion from particular roots and 
branches. They will fill up the 
slight irregularities of early years, 
so that a sapling may be somewhat 
crooked, and yet form a tree that 
is perfectly straight and symmetri- 

C3. Section showing the Growth of the Oal. 

Trunk and Branches.(i) 263. The actual sizo and form of 

the tree, at every stage of its former life (excepting as modified by 
the loss of branches), is preserved within, and might be shown by 




^From Ptossraasslor's work — "Der Wold." 



Structure and Growth of Wood, 



75 



removing the layers of growth that have formed since any given 
period. 

264. A leaning tree has the center of growth on the upper side, 
and the same is generally observed in branches near the place where 





G4. Excentric Forms of GrowtJi. 

they come out of the tree. This excentric growth is very common 
in tropical woods, and in some species there are sec- 
ondary centers of growth within the principal ones. 

265. In some of the conifers, especially in the firs 
and spruces, there is a remarkable symmetry in the 
branches, several (often five) springing from a single 
point, and dividing tlie angular space equally between 
them. The vertical distance between these branches 
generally represents a year's growth in length, and a 
cross-section above a set of branches has, of course, 
one less number of rings than would be found below 
them. 

266. The rate of growth in wood diifers very/; 
greatly, according to the soil, elevation, aspect, cli-\'|: 
mate, humidity, temperature, prevailing winds, and 
other causes. It has been estimated that, on a gen- 
eral average, a forest will, if not specially cared for, 
grow about a cord of w^ood on an acre per year. It 
may often be much less than this, or much more, and 
may be largely increased by clearing out the under- 
growth, and thinning out the trees that crowd too 
closely. It may be stimulated by fertilizers, applied 
as a top dressing, and n^ay be retarded by taking ^^sprl''*is^how^ 
away the litter that accum ulates from the fall of leaves. ol^nai^E'"^ 




76 Hoots: their Structure and Uses. 

Form, Functions^ and Manner of Growth of the Boots. 
2G7. Roots may be divided into two classes : Tap-roots, which 
descend deeply into the soil, and derive their nourishment from the 
sub-soil ; or Tracing-roots, that extend laterally and nearer the sur- 
face. The latter will sometimes run to a great distance. 

268. It is sometimes found that a mixture of different species of 
timber trees makes a better growth upon the whole, in a woodland, 
tlian one kind alone. In these cases one has often a tap-root, and 
the other a tracing-root, thus drawing their support from different 
depths of the soil. The oak and the beech are examples of this 
kind, and we shall have further occasion to speak of this subject. 

269. The roots of our common trees are made up of concentric 
layers, and grow by external addition under the bark, in the same 
manner as the trunk and branches. Their bark is generally thin, 
and they often grow one into another, and in a much more irregular 
form than the branches. There is often no apparent difference in 
texture, corresponding to sap and heart wood. The stumps and 
roots of trees are in European countries often used for fuel, and in 
making charcoal, and in the resinous kinds they, in some instances, 
abound in turpentine, and are used in making tar and pitch. 

270. The fiber of root-wood is sometimes very strong and flexible, 
as in the young spruce. The stump and roots in some trees have a 
twisted and contorted grain that gives them great value for orna- 
mental cabinet-work. The " Thuja," of the Atlas Mountains (Cal- 
Utris quadrivalvis), one of the most highly prized of fine woods, is an 
example. The black walnut often furnishes in its stump and large 
roots, a beautiful grain in the wood. 

271. The roots of trees will insinuate themselves into the thinnest 
crevices wherf? they can find moisture and soil, and by their expan- 
sion hasten disintegration, and sometimes raise and displace heavy 
masses of rock. For this reason, trees should not be planted near 
the lines of covered aqueducts, or other important works of masonry 
that might be injured by displacement. 

272. The roots of poplars and willows will fill water-pipes, and 
even wells, if they can reach them. This tendency to penetrate 
damp soil, renders these kinds, including the cotton woods, very use- 
ful in consolidating the banks of ditches, especially those used for 
irrigation in arid regions. They doubtless evaporate a part of 



Hoots: their Structure and Growth. 77 

the water in such cases through their leaves, but they give it 
out to the air where it most needs it, if there be crops under cul- 
tivation, and besides strengthening the banks, they shade the sur- 
face from the sun and winds. The roots of willows afford the best 
prevention against erosion of banks, in light soils, and these and 
other trees and plants most effectually hold in place embankments, 
and sands liable to drift by the winds. 

273. The smaller roots of trees are covered, especially near their 
extremities, by radicles or fibers, through which the water in the soil, 
and various mineral elements in solution, are taken up and conveyed 
in the form of sap to the leaves, by passing up among the pores of 
the wood. The vigor of growth in a tree is generally proportioned 
to the abundance of its radicles, and success in planting depends 
upon their preservation to as great an extent as possible without 
drying. 

274. Roots will often form buds and produce leaves, when ex- 
posed to the air, and in many species buds will form roots when 
buried as layers while still attached to the tree. In the mistletoe 
and other parasites, the roots will penetrate the wood of living trees 
upon which their viscid seeds get attached, thus weakening the vi- 
tality of the trees to which they fasten, by absorbing their juices. 

275. In some cases the roots, and especially their bark, possess 
medicinal properties, often due to an essential oil, as in the sassa- 
fras. These qualities are generally more abundant in trees grown 
in hot climates, and become less in the same S2)ecies where they will 
bear transplanting to cooler latitudes. 

276. In rare cases, the roots of different trees of the same species 
will grow together under ground, so that when one is cut down its 
stump will continue to live, and even to increase slightly in size, 
from the nourishment it derives from the other tree. But where from 
close proximity trees of different species have their roots so closely 
interlocked that are apparently united as one, it will be found upon 
a cross-section that there is a line of bark or distinct separation be- 
tween them. 

277. In some cases, a fungus growth will attach to the root, and 
spreading from one tree to another, cause their destruction, the in- 
fection extending from a center in a circular form. This is most ef- 
fectually arrested by digging trenches deeper than the roots reach, 



78 The Sap and its Functions. 

and by digging up and burning the infected portions. A dying off 
of the chestnut trees in Italy, France, and Spain lias been attrib- 
uted to fungous growths ujoon the roots. A similar cause of decay 
is noticed in some species of the pine. 

278. The truffle, a fungus that forms over the roots of the oak, 
in some countries, is a highly esteemed article of food, and becomes 
at times a product of much profit in the forests where it is produced. 
This fungus is formed chiefly in calcareous soils, and appears to re- 
quire certain conditions of climate. In the neighborhood of Avig- 
non, in France, the revenue from this source alone, in a single com- 
mune, sometimes exceeds $5,000 a year. 

On the Pressure of Sap, and its Changes. 

279. The moisture of the soil is absorbed by the roots, and pass- 
ing through these to the trunk, branches, and leaves, descends again, 
more or less changed, to supply nutriment to every part. The ac- 
tion of liquids in passing through membranes and cellular tissues, 
amounting sometimes to a pressure of several atmosphere, is called 
emlosmose, and is shown in a striking manner, "when measured by 
gauges. 

280. About 1720, the Kev. Stephen Hales, an English observer, 
began a series of experiments upon the pressure of sap, and the ab- 
sorption of water by plants, carefully noting the changes observed, 
and publishing the results. These experiments form the basis of 
much that has since been determined in this line of research. 

281. In the spring of 1873, a series of experiments was begun at 
the Amherst Agricultural College, Mass., by its president (Mr. W. 
S. Clark) and associates, which led to very interesting results. Sev- 
eral mercurial gauges were provided, and attached to trees that had 
been tapped, by screwing in a hollow plug of metal, to which the 
gauge was connected. The changes in pressure were read upon a 
scale. It w^as found that at some hours the pressure was inivards, 
and at others outwards. In the latter case only would the sap 
flow from the spouts in the usual way. These gauges, when at- 
tached to the birch, show^ed a much greater range of pressure than 
on the maple, and this even when connected with an isolated root 
in the ground. 

282. The extreme range in the sugar maple was from -|- 46 to 



Autumnal Colors: General Views. 79 

■ — 23 inches of mercury, a difFerciice of GO inches.^ In the jooplar- 
leaved white birch, it ^vas from -j- 35 to — 17, iu the body of the 
tree, and from -j- 33.6 to — 20.2 in the root. In the yellow birch 
(^Betida excelsa) , it ranged from -\- 65.5 to — 18.5 ; in the canoe-birch, 
from -f- *^^^ to — 7 ; and in the grape-vine, from -j- 74 to 12.7 inches. 
Where one gauge was placed near the root of a tree, and another 
near the top, they indicated a difference due to the hydrostatic 
pressure of a column of water equal in length to the distance be- 
tween the two levels. Trials were made upon the butternut, iron- 
wood, apple tree, etc., with corresponding results, but less in degree. 
These experiments were made before the leaves had opened, and 
the force of suction could not therefore be ascribed to evaporation 
from their surfaces. 

Autumnal Colors. 

283. The coloring of autumnal leaves appears to be due to the 
formation of organic acids from the absorption of oxygen, and 
caused by a ripening process, similar to that which colors ripening 
fruits. It is not the effect of frost, as many people believe, but 
maybe hastened by the cool nights alternating with warm days, 
that often occur in autumn. The autumnal coloring of European 
forests is sometimes bright, but never as brilliant as in our Northern 
States and iu Canada. Its prevailing colors are yellow, shading off 
into tints of pale orange and reddish brown, while in our northern 
forests it is often the brightest scarlet and orange, a rich golden yel- 
low, or an intense purple, but all passing gradually into a nearly 
uniform shade of brown. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL VIEWS IN EEGARD TO FORESTRY. 

Of the Investment of Labor and Capital in Forest-tree Planting — Ques- 
tions of Profit. 

284. As a general rule, the most profitable lands for planting, at pres- 
ent prices, are not those that would yield the best farm crops, although 
the best lands will always produce the best growth of forest trees. 
Upon such lands, forest trees would be sure to thrive, but the profits 

1 In these statements, the sign (-[-) is used to denote the ouiioarJ, and ( — ) 
the ittward pressure. 



80 The Profits of Timber- Culture. 

might be relatively less. In a region of hills and valleys, there are 
always some portions of the land that yield a much smaller return 
under equal care than others. They may be valleys and ravines, 
or steep declivities, or rocky and broken surfaces, and upon these a 
grove of trees may often prove the best investment. 

285. In other cases, the soil may have been reduced to barren- 
ness by improvident tillage, and then there is no better way to re- 
store its fertility than by the growth of trees, and the accumulation 
of a new supply of vegetable soil from the decay of the leaves. In 
some sections of the country, where old fields have been abandoned 
for cultivation, a crop of pines, oaks, or some other kinds of trees, 
will come in and occupy the laud, forming, in the course of a few 
years, quite a dense growth, but generally not of the most profita- 
ble kinds. The latter may gradually become introduced. It has 
been noticed that where we find a woodland principally composed of 
but one kind of timber, it is of comparatively recent origin, and 
that a great diversity of species indicates that the woodland has 
been growing for a long period. 

286. In the midst of a well-settled country, with no prospect of 
increase in value from external causes, the probable revenues of 
land under common forms of farm cultivation are less than in many 
other kinds of property. The investment becomes especially desira- 
ble from the security that it affords, and a reasonable prospect that 
this value may be increased by improvements and the general ad- 
vance in values as the country becomes older. There are many 
pleasing associations connected with the solid and enduring posses- 
sion of a lauded estate, and the comfortable independence that it 
secures. The value of farming laud varies with the general wealth 
and capital of a country, and increases or declines, not only as af- 
fected by the prosperity of places near it, but also by those which 
may be more distant, but still large consumers of its products. 

287. Except in the suburbs of cities and villages, there is little 
that is speculative in the possession of land, after tlie lines of trans- 
portation, and business points of a country have been fully estab- 
lished. Should a time come when forests are managed by great 
corporations, there is not the least probability that their capital 
stock would be liable to great and sudden changes, in the ordinary 
course of dealing. The returns would be slow in coming, but sure 



The Gaining Bates of Tree-Growth. 



81 




t 



xttt 



m 



under careful management, and very considerable at the end of the 
appointed periods. 

288. To illustrate the rates of this increase, we will suppose that 
the annual rings of growth in a tree arc of equal 
width. As a matter of fact, they are much 
wider in some years than in others, but, for il- 
lustration, we will consider them as uniform in 
thickness. Counting from the center outward, 
we would have the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., 
showing the years of growth. The areas of 
these circles (each including those within it) are 66. concentric Rings of 
as the squares of these numbers, viz., 1, 4, 9, 'ireu Growth. 

16, 25, etc. By subtracting each of these from the preceding, we 
have the series, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc., that represents the gain of each year 
upon the year jyrecedlng. 

289. These relative rates may be shown by a simple diagram, in 
which the gain in diameter is represented by the 
lower diagonal, and the gain in area by the ujiper 
one. The numbers alon"^ the bottom in this fiL^'ure 
represent the years, and those on the margin units 
of quantity. The rates thus shown are actually 
maintained for many years, while young, but be- 
come less as the trees approach maturity. They 
show the waste from cutting thrifty young timber 
at the period of most profitable growth, and 
should lead us to spare it, when possible, till it has^' 
gained its full value. 

290. But these gaining rates are only those of sectional area ; the 
trees are at the same time gaining in height, and the timber is gain- 
ing in quality and value j)er cuhic foot, as it grows older, for it can 
then be applied to more important uses, wlien it has grown to large 
size, besides being of intrinsically greater value, when fully mature. 

291. The planting of forests, and their management afterwards, 
till grown to full maturity, can not be followed from fixed rules as 
to time and manner, but tlie business must be conducted with an 
intelligent understanding of the conditions that exist, and the cir- 
cumstances that may influence their growth. Under equal circum- 
stances, as in all other forms of business, the man who pays the 
closest attention to his affairs, and neglects nothing, will, at the end 



13 

n 



kt 



■y 



Gaining Rates of 
Dijuneters and of 
Sectional Areas. 



82 Adoantages from Planting : Its Limit and Proportion, 

of a given period, have the most to show for his hibor. The care 
of woodlands is not generally as laborious as that of cultivated 
fields, and, if they are both united upon a farm, the alternation of 
care from one to the other, as the seasons and the occasion may re- 
quire, serves to break the monotony of life, and contribute to its 
enjoyment. 

292. There are incidental advantages to be derived from the planting 
of trees for embellishment and shade, that can not be separately esti- 
mated. Tiiat they increase the general value of an estate, can not 
be doubted, and perhaps this might best be understood by asking, 
how much Icfis ivould the jirojoerty he ivorth tvithoiit them. As prices of 
timber may hereafter advance, the income from stated cuttings will 
doubtless form a comfortable source of revenue, and there is a point 
beyond which this may be greater than from any other form of cul- 
tiv^ation. 

293. In the planting of avenues and parks, in or near towns and 
cities, questions of public utility, of personal comfort, and of health 
become paramount to all others, and are altogether above pecuniary 
appraisal. There arc other incidental advantages to be gained by 
the planting of village streets and parks in the neighborhood of cities 
that will be elsewhere more fully noticed. 

On the Due Proportion of Woodlands to Cultivated Fields. 

294. In considering only the wants of a country, we must admit 
that wood is absolutely indispensable for our use — that it can only 
be obtained by natural or artificial growth, and that therefore a cer- 
tain proportion of laud must be devoted to its production. AVhere 
from commercial facilities, or colonial possessions, this growth may 
be obtained by importation, and the land required for its production 
may be distant, still the proportion must be maintained, or a great 
future interest must be sacrificed to meet a present want. The 
actual and relative amount of forests in Europe will enable us to 
form some idea as to how this question stands at the present time in 
these countries. 



The Dae Proportion of Woodlands to Fields. 



83 



295, Forest Area of various Countries of Fiirope, from late Official 

Statistics. 



Countries. 



Russia 

Finland 

Sweden 

Norway . . , 
Austria . . . 
Germany 
Turkey. . . . 
Roumania 
Italy 



Acres 

of 

Forests. 



Per e't 

of total 

Area. 



47G;710.000j 
27,17(),0i)0| 
4;?,:W5,430 
lS,92(),riOD| 
4.1,. "00.411 
.S4,9r.9.791 

2o,.')n;^,28() 

4,940,0(10 
14,228,978 



40.0 
?,4 1 



29 
26 



COUNTUIES. 



Acres 

of 
Forests. 



Switzerland... 

France 

Greece 

•^pain 

Beltriuni 

Holland 

Portugal 

Great Britain 
Denmark 

Total .. 



1,7S.S.786 

22,087,71 ') 

1,721.029 

7,838.647 

501,402 

569,160 

1,16."). 420 

3,106,824' 

464,360 



725.98.5,743 



Per c"t 
)f total 
Area. 



18 
17 3 
14 3 
7 3 
7 
7 
5 1 
4 1 
3 4 



29.5 



29G. It will be seen from this table, that the general average 
throughout Europe is between a fourth and a third ; that the least 
proportion is in those countries where the facilities for foreign im- 
portation are greatest, or where the demand is least, and that the 
countries from whence for a century vast supplies have been drawn, 
are by no means so well wooded as to promise indefinite continu- 
ance or inexhaustible supply. The relative abundance in Russia is 
found only in the northern part, and nowhere can a contrast be- 
tween plenty and w^ant be more strongly shown. Moreover, it 
should be remembered that in case of need, the government might 
easily interrupt the exportation, if it became necessary to protect 
its own interest, or to make other conntries feel their dependence 
upon it for supplies. 

297. It is obvious that foreign demands must greatly influence 
the prices of a commodity in countries from whence it is supplied, 
without reference to causes that might operate within them ; and 
since our country has furnished for a long period a large and con- 
stantly increasing amount of timber and lumber to foreign coun- 
tries, these questions become with us matters of direct practical in- 
terest. It is proper, therefore, that Ave sliould take a general glance 
at the distribution and extent of the native timber resources of the 



♦This appears to be an over-statement. From statistics published in 1880, it is shown 
that there were then 1,4.15,434 acres of woodland in England, 162,135 in Ireland, and 
811,703 in Scotland. The porcentagos of total area were 4. 4. —3. 4— and 1.6 respect- 
ively. 



84 Resemhlancee and Contrasts in Timber- Growth. 

United States ; but before doing this, ^ve will notice some points of 
resemblance and contrast, due to great geograpliical and climatic 
causes, which we must recognize in all attempts at the naturalization 
of species, and which may afford a useful guide in their cultivation. 

Eesemblances and Contrasts in the native Timber-growth of different 
Regions of the United States. 

298. There has been noticed a wide difference between the forests 
of the eastern and the western coasts of North America, and a 
strong resemblance between the woodlands cf the Atlantic States 
and Canada and the eastern coast cf Asia and the islands of Japan. 
These resemblances apply to identical or representative species of the 
genera that include the magnolias, lindens, eumacs, buckeyes, box- 
elder, yellow-wood, honey-locust, pear, shadbush, dog-woods, rhodo- 
dendrons, holly, persimmon, catalpa, sassafras, osage-orange, pla- 
nera, walnut, butternut, hazelnut, birch, alder, yellow and white 
pine, hemlock, arbor-vitse, bald cypress, and yews. 

299. None of these, excepting some representatives of the sumac, 
box-elder, pear, shadbush, and dog-wood, appear on the Pacific 
coast. The Himalaya region, Northern China, and Mantchuria 
contain many native species that may be cultivated successfully in 
oriiamental plantations in our Atlantic States, and are already ob- 
tainable from our great nurseries. It is already ascertained that 
thev have better prospects of success than most of the species that 
thrive so remarkably in their native localities upon the Pacific 
coast, but under a climate and in conditions that we can not provide 
for them in the Atlantic States. They are accustomed to heavy- 
winter rains and long dry summers, and must have them. 

300. The same difficulty occurs when w'c attempt to cultivate on 
the Pacific coast, many of the species that thrive in the Atlantic 
States. The hemlock, spruce, Norway spruce, and Austrian pine, 
among the conifers, and the sugar maple and the hickory among 
deciduous kinds, grow but slowly there. The pecan and the beech 
do better, but the locust tree is not at all reliable. Reasoning from 
this analogy, we would expect trees from the west cf Europe to 
succeed in cases w^iere they fail in the Atlantic States. It would 
well be worth trial as to whether the maritime pine, for example, 
that grows so luxuriantly in the rainy region of Southwestern 



Native Forest Resources of the United States, 85 

France, would not be found suited to similar conditions upon our 
western coast, and prove a profitable tree for forest-culture. 

301. In determining the kinds of trees best adapted to a given 
region, it is well to observe what kinds have grown up, or that still 
remain of the native growth, along the borders of streams, or in 
places where they have been sheltered and protected. 

• 302. It may generally be presumed that these kinds would suc- 
ceed with much certainty, if planted again, although from ex- 
haustion of the soil by cultivation, or its injury from fires, it may 
have been impoverished to an extent that would make it difficult to 
plant. Before much expense was risked, experimental planting 
might be tried upon a small scale, and in this it should be the duty 
of the government to assist, where the conditions are quite new and 
the probabilities are unknown. 

General Glance at the Native Forest Resources of the United States and 

Canada. 

303. It is estimated by Professor Brewer, of Yale College, that 
there may be eight hundred species of woody plants growing na- 
tive in the United States, of which about three hundred attain a 
height of thirty feet, and about two hundred and fifty are tolerably 
abundant somewhere. Excluding semi-tropical species on the extreme 
southern border, and some others that are rare, there would still re- 
main about one hundred and twenty species, of which about twenty 
grow to one hundred feet, twelve to two hundred, and five or six 
to three hundred feet or over. Of these one hundred and twenty, 
about fifty are conifers. 

304. East of the treeless plains, which extend from north to 
south across the country, in a belt some hundreds of miles wide, 
east of the Rocky Mountains, the native forests were largely of de- 
ciduous kinds, and in great variety of species. West of this belt 
they are almost entirely conifers. One species, the aspen {Popuhis 
tremuloides) , extends entirely across the continent. There may be a 
few others that are found in rare cases. 

The New England States. 

305. In generalizing by regions, Professor Brewer remarks, that 
in the New England States, once- entirely wooded, there are eighty 
to eighty-five native species, of which about sixty grow more than 



86 Natice Forest Besources of the United States. 

fifty feet high. The greater number of these are hard-woods, and 
the conifers are chiefly of the pine, cedar, and spruce families. 
As shade-trees, the elm and the sugar maple there perhaps attain 
their finest development. 

The Middle States. 
306. In the Middle States, from one hundred to one hundred and 
five species occur, of which sixty-five to sixty-seven grow fifty feet 
or more in height. These states were once heavily wooded — the 
conifers in greater or less abundance being mingled among the de- 
ciduous kinds. Some of the oaks, the chestnut, beech, and some 
kinds of the ash, and the white-pine, there grow to great perfection 
in their favorite localities. 

Southern States. 

807. From Virginia to Florida, about one hundred and thirty 
species occur, of which about seventy-five grow to fifty feet or more, 
and perhaps a dozen to one hundred feet. The coast of this region 
produces the bald cypress, and towards the south the live-oak, the 
palmetto and other kinds. 

308. A broad belt of long-leaved pine (Pinus aiistralis) extends 
further inland, in irregular form, around through the middle of the 
Gulf States to beyond the Mississippi river. Still further inland, 
and at higher level, the oaks and other hard- woods become more 
common, and on the mountains the northern conifers are found. 
The pine forests of this region generally present an open appearance, 
probably from their being overrun by frequent fires. 

309. The coast region and the swamps bear a tree-growth that is 
dense and tangled, and although there may be timber of large size, 
it is difficult of access, as the swamps never freeze so as to facilitate 
lumbering as in the Northern States. In these swamps there is often 
a deep deposit of vegetable soil, and in some places buried cedar may 
be found still in excellent preservation. 

310. At a short distance west of Trinity river, in Texas, the for- 
ests begin to disappear, and there are immense regions in that state, 
extending from the Gulf to the northern and western borders^ that 
are wholly destitute of trees. 

The Western States. 

311. West of the Alleghenies, we find a country originally cov* 



Timber of the Western States.— The Rocky Mountains. 87 

ered with heavy timber, excepting in "oak openings" and "bar- 
rens," where the trees had been destroyed by frequent fires, and the 
" prairies," where from this or other causes no timber was found, 
except along the borders of streams. 

312. These open spaces of every description, when drained and 
protected, are found to produce trees readily under cultivation, there 
being scarcely any part that presents an inherent difficulty in the 
soil, and none in the climate. 

313. According to the writer above cited, the country north-west 
of the Ohio river, contains from one hundred and five to one hun- 
dred and ten native species, of which sixty-eight to seventy grew to 
a height of fifty feet. In Southern Ohio and Indiana, oaks and 
various hard-woods grow to a very large size, and the walnuts, bass- 
wood, and tulip-tree attain their finest development. 

314. The white-pine region begins in North-western Ohio, and ex- 
tends into the states further north and west. In the interior of Michi- 
gan, around Saginaw Bay, and along both lakes, there were vast 
bodies of white pine, but much of this has been worked out, and 
according to careful estimates the supply can not last many years. 

315. In the upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Northern Wiscon- 
sin, and in Eastern and North-eastern Minnesota, there were also 
large bodies of timber, genorally a mixture of conifers and hard- 
woods. The forests south of Lake Superior were originally second 
only to those of the Pacific coast for their density, and the size of 
their growth. 

316. In Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, and from the Mississippi 
river westward, the prairies begin to predominate, and the native 
forests are limited to belts along the rivers and streams. In some 
parts, these spread out into broad areas many miles in extent, and 
in others they are mere fringes, that gradually disappeared altogether 
further west. 

The Rocky Mountain Region. 

317. The sides and valleys of these mountains were in favorable 
situations covered with coniferous forest trees, sometimes occupying 
broad areas, and elsewhere of more limited extent. The number of 
species in this region is not over twenty-eight or thirty, of which 
the conifers form two-thirds the number in species, and by far the 
greatest proportion in quantity. The box-elder (Negundo aceroides) 
and the quaking aspen, are the more important deciduous trees. 



88 Native Forest JResources of the United States. 

318. The *' divides" between river systems are generally wooded, 
but ill scattered patches and irregular masses, that give a park-like 
appearance to the country, but do not afford for many years a sup- 
ply, where mining or other settlements are made in their vicinity. 
The waste and improvidence ^vith which this timber is being de- 
stroyed should lead to prompt and adequate measures for its protec- 
tion. In some places, it can scarcely be made to grow again, when 
once cut off, and in others the rate of growth is so slow that five 
huudred years would scarcely replace the thoughtless waste of an 
hour. 

319. The decaying remains of coniferous and other trees are not 
unfrequently found in this region and westward, extending farther 
out towards the plains than any of the kind are now found growing, 
or at least young and in thriving condition. This has been thought 
to indicate that at no distant period in the past, these trees flourished 
over a larger area than at present, and in places where, from changed 
conditions of the climate, they could now scarcely be made to grow 
by the most careful cultivation. 

320. This recession will, in all probability, be hastened by the 
improvident waste that is now going on, and changes are already 
perceptible, although the time since settlements began is but brief. 
The nutritious bunch-grasses of the plains extend up into the bor- 
ders of the timber belt, and in open valleys are found to nearly 
11,000 feet above tide. 

Tlie Pacific Coast. 

321. The forests of this region are for the most part restricted to 
the sea-coast, the borders of rivers, and the mountain sides, and are 
distinguished on account of the relatively large preponderance of 
the coniferous as compared with the deciduous kinds. 

322. In speaking of the contrasts between this region and the At- 
lantic States, Dr. Asa Gray remarks : 

"California has no magnolia nor tulip-trees, nor star-anise tree; no so- 
called pawpaw ; no barberry of the coniniun single-luaved sort; ... no 
prickly-ash nor sumac; no loblolly-bay norstuartia; no basswood nor lin- 
den trees; neither locust, honej'-locust, coffce-troes, nor yellow-wood; nothing 
answering to hydrangea or witch-hazel, to gum-trees, viburnum, or dier- 
villa; no huckle-berries, and hardly any blue-berries; no epigsea — charm of 
our earliest spring — tempering the April wind with a delicious wild fra- 
grance ; no kalmia, nor clethra, nor holly, nor persimmon ; no catalpa tree; 



Timber Resources of the United States and Canada. 89 

. . . notliiiiij answering to sapsafras, nor to benzoin tree, nor to hickory; 
neither mulberry i;or ehii ; no beech, true chestnut, hornbeam, nor iron wood, 
nor a proper birch tree; and the enumeration might be continued very much 
further by naming herbaceous phmts and others familiar to botanists." 

323. The enormous sizes to which some of the conifers of this 
region grow, has been the wonder of all travelers ; but these im- 
mense growths clo not cover large areas, and nowhere can such 
strong contrasts between abundance and scarcity be elsewhere seen. 
The heavy forests do not extend much beyond the coast region, the 
borders of rivers or the mountain sides and valleys, and these usually 
present remarkable 2:>eculiarities in the prevailing growth. 

324. The consumption and waste that have been going on since 
settlement began, have already made serious inroads upon these ap- 
parently '^ inexhaustible" supplies, and probably already more than 
half, in all the accessible portions, is now gone. There is a most 
urgent need of conservative measures, and the time is not distant 
when the inhabitants of that region, and those depending upon 
these supplies, Avill be admonished by enhanced prices of the im- 
portance of economy and the value of a growing tree. 

325. In Canada, there are found sixty-five native species of trees, 
in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces ; of which about 
a dozen range as far north as James Bay. The birches, poplars, 
and tamarac are found in the more northerly region, and south of 
these the pines and the beech, the latter chiefly south of a line 
drawn from the outlet of Lake Superior to Quebec. West of Ni- 
agara river is a zone where the walnut, butternut, tulip-tree, sassa- 
fras, and chestnut occur, with an increasing abundance of oaks. 
The absence of trees and of mosses is a notable feature of the prairies 
of Manitoba and westward.^ The principal pine forests of Canada 
have receded to the upper waters of the great rivers flowing into 
the St. Lawrence and the lakes, and from the investigations that 
have been undertaken by the government in recent years, it appears' 
evident that the time of princij)al exhaustion is not many years 
distant. 

Great Britain. 

326. Of the native trees of Great Britain, there are only about a 
dozen genera and thirty species, that grow to thirty feet or more 

^ Drummond's Canadian Timber Trees^ p. 5. 



90 Alternations in Forest Growth. 

in height, and only two of these are conifers. By importation from 
other countries, the number now under cultivation is largely in- 
creased, and very many have been found entirely suited to the soil 
and climate. Among these, the larch may be mentioned as the one 
that has come into favor more than any other species, as a forest 
tree, especially in Scotland. The conifers of our Pacific coast, and 
especially the Douglas fir, appear in many cases to thrive well when 
cultivated as timber trees. 

Alternations of Forest Growth. 

327. It has been often observed that when a forest has been de- 
stroyed, and more especially if it has been killed off by fire, the 
growth that succeeds, when left to itself, is very often of a different 
kind. If the former growth was pine, the succeeding one may 
be cherry or poplar, and in some regions oak. In the Southern 
States, oak and hickory may be followed by pine. The white oak 
cut oflf at Valley Forge by the American army in 1777-8 was fol- 
lowed by black oak, hickory and chestnut. In Florida, the black- 
jack (^Quercus nigra) often follows the long-leaved pine {Pinus 
australis). 

328. These facts have by some been regarded as favoring a theory 
of rotation of crops in timber, by natural causes, as we practice 
with advantage in agriculture ; but, according to the best received 
opinions, this alternation is not a law of nature, but rather the re- 
sult of external circumstances, which will generally be found suf- 
ficient to account for all the facts we meet with. Either the decid- 
uous or the resinous species can be introduced and maintained by 
the aid of judicious cultivation, in places where the conditions for 
their welfare exist in the soil or climate. 

329. Bat as different trees do not draw equally from the soil, we 
should study the natural adaptation of the conditions of the local- 
ity, and seek to accommodate the species to them, to the best ad- 
vantage. In another part of this work, we notice some of the agen- 
cies through which this natural seeding may occur.^ 

330. In seeking to continue the production of the same species 
upon a soil where it has formerly prospered, Ave must never allow 
the soil to become impoverished by the removal of the dead leaves 

1 See pages 30-33. 



Acts relating to Timber on the Public Lands. 91 

and rubbish. If tins is done, the fertility is diminished, in n man- 
ner comparable to that of agricultural lands that will gradually be- 
come exhausted, unless manures are applied. In no form of fjrest- 
culture is there a tendency to general exhaustion of the soil by long 
continued use, as ^\e observ^e in agricultural cultivation; still there 
may be an exhaustion of the local supply for th^ roots of trees in 
particular places, and when this occurs the trees may languish and 
die, or their growth may be checked. This sometimes happens in 
ornamental planting, wdiere very fertile soil is used for filling in the 
holes, and where these holes are dug in a very poor soil. 

CHAPTER IX. 

ACTS OF CONGRESS RELATING TO TIMBER RIGHTS. 

Entry of Land under the Timber-culture Acts. 

831. By an act of Congress approved March 3, 1873, and amended 
March 13, 1874, and again June 14, 1878, any person who is the 
head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one, and 
is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration of 
intention to become such, may apply at the office of the Register of 
a Land District, for the entry of any vacant land in such district as 
a timber claim, upon the following conditions : 

332. The amount may not be more than a quarter section (160 
acres) to one person, nor more tlian this amount can be taken up 
by any person in one section. The applicant must make oath that 
the land is composed wholly of prairie lands, or otl;er lands devoid 
of timber ; that the entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and 
forhis own exclusive use and benefit, and in good faith, and not forthe 
purpose of speculation, or directly or indirectly for the use or bene- 
fit of any other person ; and that ho intends to hold and cultivate 
the land, and fully to c;)mply with the provisions of the law. He 
must also swear that he has not previously entered any lands under 
the present act, or the acts of which it is amendatory. 

333. Upon the payment of a fee of $10, and the further sum of 
$4, for commissions, if for more than eighty acres, or of $5 and $4 
if eighty acres or less, he receives a certificate of entry, and may 
occupy at once, upon the following conditions : 

334. If the entry is for 160 acres, he must break or plow five 
acres the first year and another five acres the second year. The land 



92 Acts relating to Timber on the Pahlic Lands. 

plowed the first year, must be cultivated by crop or otherwise in the 
second year. In the tiiird year he must cultivate the five acres 
broken in the second year, and plant in timber trees, tree-seeds, 
or cuttings, the five acres first broken or plowed, and cultivate the 
remainder tiiat has been broken. In the fi)urth year, he must plant 
in timber trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, the second five acres. 

335. If the entry is for eighty acres, the amount to be broken and 
planted must be one-half, or if for forty acres, one-fourth of the above 
amount. If the trees, seeds, or cuttings are destroyed by grass- 
hoppers, or by extreme or unusual drouth, for any year or term of 
years, the time for planting is increased one year for every such 
year when they have been destroyed. In applying for an extension 
of time, an affidavit by the applicant, corroborated by two witnesses, 
must be filed, setting forth the destruction of the trees. 

336. At the end of eight years from the date of entry, or within 
five years thereafter, the person who made it, or if he or she be dead 
his or her heirs or legal representatives must prove, by two credible 
witnesses, that the amount of land has been plowed, cultivated, 
planted, and protected as above required, and a statement of the 
quantity and character of trees thus planted ; that not less than 
2,700 trees were planted on each acre; ^ and that at least 675 are 
living and thrifty, upon each acre, at the time of making such 
proof. This will then entitle him to a patent for the quarter- sec- 
tion, or less amount of land that was entered. 

337. The claim is forfeited at any time befi)re the eight years, 
upon neglect of any of the conditions, and may be entered by another 
person, either as a homestead or as a timber claim, the original 
claimant being notified as prescribed by rules, and his rights deter- 
mined by evidence, as in other contested cases. 

338. Timber-claims are not liable to the satisfaction of debts con- 
tracted before date of final certificate. The penalties prescribed 
with respect to oaths and afiirmatious falsely made in other cases ap- 
ply to this, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office is re- 
quired to issue rules and regulations for the execution of the act. 

339. Entries made under the acts of 1873 or 1874 may be com- 
pleted under the act of 1878, upon complying with its conditions, 
and in this case it is not necessary to prove that the manner of 

1 Equivalent to rows four feet apart each way. 



Acts of Congress relating to Timber Rights. 93 

planting bcgim under former acts were complied with. It may have 
been dune under the manner prescribed by either of these acts. 

340. With respect to the kinds of trees that might be regarded 
as timber trees, within the meaning cf the law, the following were 
specified, viz. : "Ash, alder, beech, birch, black-walnut, basswood, 
black-locust, cedar, chestnut, cottonwood, elm, fir, including sj^ruce, 
hickory, honey-locust, larch, maple, including box-elder, oak, pine, 
plane-tree, otherwise called cotton-tree, buttonwood or sycamore, 
service-tree, otherwise called mountain-asli, white-walnut, otherwise 
called butternut, white-willow, and whitewood, otherwise called 
tulip-tree." 

341. The above list Avas only intended as a general guide, and' 
will not be construed to exclude any trees falling within the descrip- 
tion of trees recognized in the neighborhood as of value for timber, 
or for commercial purposes, or for firewood and domestic use.^ 

342. The prei^aratiou of the land and the planting of trees being 
acts of cultivation, the time so employed is to be counted as a part 
of the eight years of cultivation required bylaw. Final proof must 
be made in person, with his witnesses, and in the Land District where 
the land is located. The testimony must be given before a Judge 
or Clerk of a court of record iu that Land District, and the identity 
and credibility of the party making the affidavit must be certified 
by the ofiicer administering the oath. 

343. The sum of $4, in addition to the amount paid upon entry, 
must be paid when the final proof is made. No additional fees are 
required or allowed. 

344. By official rulings entries by subdivisions of quarter-sections 
may be made, if in the same section, and in a compact body, not 
exceeding 160 acres in all. Where an entry is made upon a claim 
that has been abandoned after breaking or planting, the second 
party is not entitled to any allowances for the work done. After 
entry of 160 acres, if from sickness the party can not complete the 

I 

1 This general permission was granted by a decision of February 10, 1882, 

The omissit)ns in the list previously enumerated had given rise to severe criti- 
cisms. Either of the ft)llowing might in some localities be found worth cul- 
tivating as t'mber trees, and several of them may be classed among the 
more valuable kinds, viz: Ailanthus, blue-beech, cherry (especially the 
black cherry,) gum-trees, hackberi-y, iron-wood, osage-orange, peach, pear, 
apple, plum, etc. 



94 Acts of Congress relating to Timber Rights. 

planting, if the amount broken be as much as the law requires for 
a less amount, he may relinquish 80 acres, retaining the part on 
which work is begun. A claim once entered can not be exchanged 
for another. 

945. A strict compliance with the terms of the law has been held 
as necessary. Should less than five acres be broken, for example, 
in one year, the difference could not be made up by an excess of 
plowimr the second year. The word " cultivation" does not neces- 
sarily imply the raising of a crop. It may be done by plowing, 
harrowing, or otherwise. 

346. Every timber-culture entry is made subject to a right of con- 
test, by any person who can show non-compliance as a ground of 
forfeiture. He who faithfully complies with the law has little to 
apprehend, for contestants must pay the costs if not successful. 

847. Where a scattered growth of trees exists on the margin of a 
stream or a section of land, and there are none growing elsewhere 
on the section, it has been held that tiie tract is " naturally devoid of 
timber" if there are less than 50 trees to the section. The quality 
of the trees, rather than their number, has determined questions 
arising upon this point. Because a tract was covered by a prior 
timber-culture entry, this is not evidence that the laud is properly 
subject to the timber-culture law. The person who makes affidavit 
should assure himself of the fact. 

Flanthig under the Homestead- Entry Ad. 

348. Under an act relating to homestead entries, in force from 
March 13, 1874, to June 14, 1878, a person entitled under the 
homestead act, who at any time after the third year of his or her 
residence thereon, had, in addition to the settlement and improve- 
ments required bylaw, brought under cultivation for two years one acre 
of timber, not more than twelve feet apart each way, and had kept 
it in good thrifty condition, for each sixteen acres of his homestead, 
he was entitled to receive a patent for the same, upon proof of the 
fact. The rights acquired while this act was in force, will remain 
valid, until the limitation of that act has expired. 

Use of Timber by Railroad Compan'u.s. 

349. By an act approved March 3, 1878, entitled •' an act granting 
to railroads the right of way through the public lands of the United 
States," these companies are allowed the riglit of 100 feet on each 



Acts relating to Timber on the Public Lands, 95 

side of the ceutral line of their road, and the right to take from the 
public lands adjacent to the line of said read the timber and other 
materials necessary for construction, and a tract not to exceed 
twenty acres in a place, once in ten miles, for a station. 

Privileges granted to the Citizens of Colorado, Nevada, and the Terri- 
tories. 

350. By "An Act authorizing the citizens of Colorado, Nevada, 
and the Territories, to remove Timber on the Public Domain for Min- 
ing and Domestic Purposes," approved June 3, 1878, the bona fide 
residents of the above states, and the territories of New Mexico, 
Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Dakota, Idaho and Montana, and all other 
mineral districts of the United States, were permitted to take any 
timber or other trees growing on the public lands, said lands being 
mineral, and not subject to entry, as they might need for building, 
agricutural, mining, or domestic purposes, subject to such regula- 
tions as the Secretary of the Interior might prescribe. 

Sale of Timber Lands in California, Oregon, and Nevada, and in Wash- 
ington Territory. 

351. By an act of June 3, 1878, providing for the survey of pub- 
lic lands in the above states and territories which are chiefly valu- 
able for timber but unfit for cultivation, and which had not been 
offered for sale, it is provided that such lauds may be sold in quan- 
tities not exceeding 160 acres to one person, at a minimum price of 
$2.50 per acre. During the year ending June 30, 1881, there were 
entered the following amounts : 

In California, 179 entries=19,829.G6 acres. 

In Washington Ter., 134 entries=16,436 acres. 
In Oregon, 49 entries^ 5,044.55 acres. 

In Nevada, 1 entry = 160 acres. 

352. An applicant must make affidavit that he is a citizen, or has 
filed a declaration of intention to become such ; that the land is un- 
fit for cultivation, and chiefly valuable for timber (or stone) ; that 
it is uninhabited; that it has not gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or 
coal ; that he has made no previous application ; does not buy on 
speculation ; and has not made any agreement by which the benefit 
glial! accrue to any other person. This allegation must be sup- 
ported by that of two other persons who have no interest in the 



96 European Plans of Foy^est Management. 

transaction. After advertisement for sixty days, if no adverse 
claim is filed, the land may be conveyed. This act does not re- 
serve land covered by timber and fit f.r cultivation from the opera- 
tion of the homestead or pre-emption laws. A person resident on a 
timber claim has been allowed to change it to a homestead entry, 
upon relinquishing the former, upder section 3, Act of May 14, 1880. 
Applicants are not allowed to remove the timber from the land em- 
braced in their ap2)lication prior to making proof and payment. 

CHAPTER X. 

EUROPEAN PLANS OF FOEEST MANAGEMENT. 

359. In countries where Forestry has been studied with most 
care, several different systems of management have been devised, 
in each of which certain advantages may be gained when ])roperly 
employed. The preference that should be given to one or another, 
must in all cases be determined by the circumstances and conditions. 
They are as follows : 

(1.) Method of Selection.^ 

360. In this method, the trees are cut out here and there, leaving 
others not yet mature to grow to their full size. It is the same plan 
that we see in common use, in the tracts of woodland reserved upon 
farms, in the older parts of the United States, where the timber is 
cut out here and there, as it is wanted for particular uses, or as it 
begins to decay. 

361. It is also employed to some extent in the cutting of trees for 
lumber, chiefly in pine, cedar, or spruce forests, where all the trees 
above a certain diameter are cut out, and those of smaller size are 
left, until the tract can again be cut over in like manner. 

362. It results from this management, that the forest always 
presents a great diversity of growth of young trees among the old, 
and the actual amount of wood upon such a tract is generally much 
less than where a great uniformity in size and age has been main- 
tained. As too often practiced upon farms, if cattle and sheej:) are 
allowed to pasture in such woods, the seedlings and young sprouts 

1 Called by the French ^'Jardinage'' literally " garden incj;" or sometimes 
^'■-fueriage^^ that is, "stealing" here and thei-e from the forest, as described 
in tlie text. 



European Plans of Forest Management. 97 

arc eaten off, or arc broken down, and the tendency to ruin is 
hastened. 

363. In such woodlands, where trees are felled every year, the 
young timber is very liable to injury, — bare jDlaces are very apt to 
form, and the general tendency is to a continual narrowing in of 
the boundary and final clearing off. In such irregular forests, the 
wiu/.s are apt to do more injury than where the grow^th is uniform, 
and the timber itself is generally not so valuable, on account of the 
injuries and accidents to which it is exposed when young, and the 
unequal growth that it forms. Nevertheless, in certain cases, it is 
the only form of management that is admissible, as, for example, 
upon a mountain side liable to erosion from torrents, if all cleared 
at once, or in places difficult of access, where large timber could 
not be got out, or upon loose sands that might be liable to drift, if 
fully exposed to the winds. 

364. In the case of pine or spruce woodlands, and in cedar 
swamps, where an interval of several years occurs between the cut- 
tings, and due protection is given, the practice of selection is a good 
one, because in such cases a chance for seeding is afforded at each 
partial clearing, and the younger growth has the benefit of air and 
light, most fjivorable ta its welfare. 

365. In all cases, where the young growth becomes too dense, so 
that the branches interlock, it is advisable to thin out a part, in 
order to favor the growth of the remainder. In some localities, the 
young trees thus taken out may be profitably used for stakes and 
poles, affording a small revenue to the owner. 

(2.) Method of Coppice-growth. 

^^^. The term ''coppice" is applied to a woodland that is cut 
off completely when the timber has grown to a size for the uses to 
which it is intended, and a new growth is allowed to spring up from 
the roots and stumps. 

367. We have scarcely an instance among the resinous species in 
which this can be done with advantage. But very few ^ will sprout 

^The redwood of California {Sequoia sempervtrens) is a notable exception 
to this rule, as it sprouts freely from the stump, and even from the fallen 
timber, if cut at the proper season. The pitch-pine of New England {Pi7ius 
riffida) shows some tendency to sprout, but the sprouts seldom attain much 
growth. 

7 



98 European Plans of Forest Management. 

from the stump at all, autl of these the after-growth does not pro- 
duce a Ecw crop of much value. 

368. Although most deciduous trees will sprout when cut, some 
of them, especially the beech and the maple, will scarcely grow to 
advantage. In other kinds, as the chestnut, oaks, ashes, poplars, 
Avillows, linden, etc., the second growth under favorable conditions 
is very good. As a rule, the growth is best when the cutting is 
nearly or quite level with the ground, for then the sprouts are able 
to get independent roots. 

370. If, however, a second growth had already been obtained, it 
would be better to cut a little higher, and in the new wood, where 
the growth would be more likely to succeed than under the hardened 
bark of the old wood. 

371. To insure success by this method, the timber must be cut a 
little before the season when growth begins. In a climate so varied as 
we find in the United States, it would be quite impossible to fix this 
time by a general rule, and even in a given locality it might vary 
in different years. In tlie Northern States, the latter part of win- 
ter would be best ; but in intensely cold and dry weather the frost 
might so injure and loosen the bark that it would separate from the 
wood, and the vitality of the stump would be weakened or de- 
troy ed. 

372. In some species, the flow of sap will tend to injury if the 
cutting is done too near the time when it begins to start. It is de- 
sirable to have the full effect of the first impulse of growth, and if 
the cutting be delayed until after this has advanced the sprouts be- 
come weak. 

373. In mild climates, where we have no fear of heavy winter 
frosts, the cutting may be done at any time after the fall of the 
leaves, or in the broad-leaved evergreens, as soon as the movement 
of the second sap has ceased. 

374. If cut in midsummer or early autumn, after the growth of 
wood for the year has formed, no sprouts will form, or they will be 
feeble and transient. 

375. It is further to be observed, that as the sprouts from a stump 
start from along the line of junction between the wood and the bark, 
care should be taken not to wound or tear off the bark when cut. 
It is an excellent plan to go over the stumps with a sharp adze, 
and carefully trim ihe edges, always cutting towards the center, so 



Earopean Plans of Forest 3Ianagement. 99 

as to leave the edges smooth and the stump convex. Tliis will en- 
able it to shed off the rains which might otherwise settle in hollow 
places and hasten decay. 

376. As only a few of the sprouts that come up from the stump 
arc wanted as trees, a part of them should be cut off. If some of 
them are bent down, secured in place by pegs, and partly covered 
with soil, they will take root and become independent trees, when 
separated from the parent stock. In putting down these layers, the 
part that is buried should be partly cut off, and the tip end be left 
exposed. 

oil. In some species, as in the locust, and in many of the pop- 
lars, we find a strong tendency to spread by sending up sprouts 
from the roots, often at a great distance from the parent tree. 
These sprouts will readily form thrifty trees, and where these tracing 
roots are broken, and the ends brought to the surface, they grow 
readily from these ends. 

378. Where it is desirable to hasten the growth of trees from 
sprouts and the ground is full of small roots, we may break these 
and bring their ends to the air and thus hasten a nev/ growth. This 
can be done where poplars have been cut off, and a new crop is de- 
sired. 

379. It is needless to remark that a coppice growth scarcely ad- 
mits of any kind of pasturage at any time during its growth, and 
that to insure success it should always be kept inclosed. In s:)me 
countries, the leaves are gathered while still green, and dried foi: 
winter fodder. 

380. The period at which a coppice may be cut depends upon the 
uses to which the wood is to be applied, and the conditions of soil, 
climate, and exposure under which it has grown. It should never 
extend beyond forty, and it may be reduced to fifteen, or even to 
ten years. It will be very liable to be governed by the wants of the 
owner and the market prices of timber. Generally, from twenty to 
thirty years is ample time for firewood, charcoal, railroad ties, etc. 
For hoop poles and other small wood it may be cut in five or six 
years. 

381. As a general rule, the result is best where the period is uni- 
form, but this can not be determined in a given locality until all 
the circumstances of growth and the opportunities for market are 
known. The wood should be taken out before the sprouts get up 



100 Huropran Phots of Forest 3Ianagement 

so as to be liable to injury, and the brush should be burned as soon 
as may be— if possible in the spring of the vsaine year. 

o82. Roads are of first importance for facilitating the removal of 
products, and \\hen kept free from dry litter, they afford lines of 
defense in case of forest fires. 

383. Sometimes one or two agricultural crops are taken off at the 
time of cutting of a coppice. The benefit in exceptional cases may 
be considerable, but as a rule it will do more harm than good. 

384. One of the most important applications of the method of 
coppice growth, in Europe, is for the production of oak bark, to be 
used in tannin^:, as \vill be t?lsewhere more fully noticed. 

385. As tlie trees in a coppice do not como to maturity, they seldom 
tend to seed themselves, or if this occurs it is apt to result that in- 
ferior species of easy and rapid growth may get an undue start, and 
tend to supplant the more valuable kinds. It is always advisable 
to notice the void places iu a coppice woodland, and plant or sow 
them at the proper season. In this, attention should be given to 
favor the more valuable kinds. A proper mixture of species will 
sometimes yield a greater quantity of material and more profit, iu a 
given time, than when It is all alike. 

386. As coppice woods must be cut in the season when the sap is 
about to start, the durability of the wood is not so great as when 
cut iu the dormant season. For some uses this is not important, 
but in others, as in the case of railroad ties, posts, and the like, it 
becomes a question for consideration as to whether the season of cut- 
ting should not be that which tends to greater durability, at the risk 
of failure of reproduction by coppice-growth. 

387. It is to be remarked that the best success in reproduction 
after cutting, occurs in rich and humid soil, and in a damp climate, 
and that as we pass to those that are dryer the chances become 
less, until we approach those of the arid type, when they disappear 
altogether. From the greater dryness of our climate, as compared 
with that of Europe, we can not so uniformly depend upon this 
method as there. 

3d8. In a given species it is observed that the tendency to send 
up vigorous sprouts diminishes with age, and that finally it ceases 
almost entirely. AYe should not therefore depend upon the stumps 
of trees of large size for the growth of coppice wood. In cases 
where it is desirable to hasten their decay, to get room for others, 



^European Plans of Forest Management. 101 

they may be cut concave, so that the rain-water will settle upon 
them instead cf running off. 

" 389. In skilled forestry there is a constant effort to increase the 
production of a given area, and to improve the quality of the wood 
grown. Since coppice Avoods are generally cut before maturity, 
their timber has not the size or excellence that allow it to be used 
where pieces of large dimensions and great strength are needed, and 
it has been customary at every cutting to reserve some cf the finest 
and thriftiest trees and allow them to grow to a second, third, fourth, 
or fifth period, thereby attaining their greatest size and value.^ 

390. These reserved trees affect the young grow^th around them, 
eitlier by their covert or their shade. 

(a.) The covert of a tree is the action that a tree may have upon 
the space that is covered by the top and branches, and it is gener- 
ally injurious, by intercepting a part of the rain and much of the 
light, and by preventing the formation of dew. 

(b.) The ^hade is the shadow which a tree casts at different times 
in the day, and where it does not rest too long, and alternates with 
sunshine, it is almost always salutary to the young growth. It tends 
to prevent evaporation, while it does not hinder the free access of 
the air. 

391. As a rule, the reserves should not cover more than from the 
twentieth to the sixteenth part of the surface, and they should be 
distributed as uniformly as possible. At every cutting some should 
be taken out, so that the number of each class becomes less. 

392. The oak, when thus left under an unusual exposure of the 
sun and air, is especially liable to put out large lateral branches of 
vi<»'orous growth. These " gormand" branches should not be allowed 
to become large, and can best be trimmed off close to the trunk, and 
late in summer. They will then be less liable to sprout the next 
spring, and may sooner heal over with new wood. It is a good 
practice to paint over these wounds with coal-tar. 

1 The trees thus left, received certain names according to the periods they 
are left over. In French forestry these names, with their English equiva- 
lents, as nearly as cjui be rendered, are as follows* 

1st period. Balivean — "^oung reserves." 

2d period. Modevnes — "moderns." 

Sd period. Anciens, 2d class — " old, of 2d class. 

4ih period, Anciens 1st class — old, of 1st class. 

5th period. Viellles ccorces — "old-bark." 



102 European Plans of Forest Management. 

393. In the case of timber used for ship biiilcliug, the knees and 
other curved or anguhir parts are generally taken from trees that 
have the desired shapes. These are oftener found along the borders* 
of a woodland than in the interior, and the reserves affording these 
forms being more desirable, more of them may be loft in propor- 
tion to their number than of others that are more upright. It has 
been practiced to some extent, to bend and confine young trees, to 
secure these curves and forms that give them special value for cer- 
tain uses. This may be done by fastening one branch to another 
of the same tree, or by binding it to the ground, or fastening it to a 
plank molded to the proper curve, until it will stay in place. 

(3.) The Growing of Woodlands to full Maturity.^ 

394. For the production of large timber, of great strength, and 
fit for the most important uses in civil and naval constructions, 
a special course of management is required, which we will briefly 
describe, although it has not hitherto been much followed, except 
upon lands belonging to governments, and in a large degree for the 
supply of their own wants. 

305. In this form of cultivation, the trees are generally all started 
at the same period, and at all stages of growth they are of the same 
age and size, but progressively become less in number, by thinning 
out from time to time, in order to allow the remainder a better 
chance to grow. 

396. The period of " revolution" with the same kinds varies with 
the richness of the soil, the climate, and the exposure, and it is 
longer in some kinds than with others. 

397. The deciduous kinds most prized for this are the English 
oak,^ beech, elm, ash, sycamore, maple, hornbeam, birch, and 
locust, often more or less mixed, and sometimes with spruces, firs, 
and pines. The conifers can be cultivated only in this way or by 
''jardinage." [§ 360.] 

398. The beginning is secured either by sowing or planting (upon 

^ We hrtve no single word in the English language to express the idea 
which the French convey in the wovd fufaif, and the Germans in hochionhf^ 
meaning a forest grown to full age, in a period ranging from 60 or 70 years, 
to 150 or 200. 

2 Quercus pedunculatn^ and Q, sesslll/Jora, by some botanists regarded as 
varieties of the same species, which they name Quercus robur. 



European Flans of Forest Management. 103 

ground previously prepared) over its whole surface, or in squares or 
pockets, so as to be near enough together to shade the whole ground 
in two or three years, and thus take an upward growth to reach the 
air and light. They should be thinned out when too dense, but no 
rule can be given as to the time when, and the extent to which this 
thinning should be done, where so much depends upon circum- 
stances, and the judgment of the forester in charge. 

399. In Germany, upon a good soil, and a uniform growth, the 
number of trees at different clearings, after the trees get to be of a 
considerable size, is about as follows : 

1st clearing, at 30 to 40 years, 1 ,300 to 1 ,600 trees left to an acre. 
2d '' " 50 to 60 '' 500 to 600 

3d '' '' 70 to 80 " 300 to 400 

4th '' "90 to 100 *' 200 to 250 

400. In the evergreen or coniferous kinds the number left may 
be greater, because, with a given size of body, the foliage is less. 
Upon poor soils and in rude climates it may be greater, because the 
trees will be smaller, and upon mountain sides the same, because the 
trees do not then shade one another so much, and are better exposed 
to the light. 

401. Much importance is attached to these thinnings, for they 
secure a great gain in value of the final product, besides that de- 
rived from the trees taken out, and that would have perished from 
shading out if left to themselves. From the first of these thinnings 
they have a value, which increased at every time, from poles to 
timber of useful size; and at all stages they furnish wood for fuel 
and charcoal. 

402. While these accessory products afford in advanced stages a 
revenue, much above the whole cost of supervision and labor, their 
removal stimulates the growth of the remainder in a notable degree, 
and they gain much faster in size, as their branches and roots find 
more room to spread. By letting in the sun and the air, they con- 
tribute to give qualities of solidity and elasticity, that they could 
not acquire in a dense shade. 

403. In a well kept woodland, dead and dying trees should be 
taken out whenever found, as their presence favors the breeding of 
beetles, that might injure the remaining trees. It is a poor policy to 
allow the dead leaves and the litter to be taken out ; but when the 



104 European Flans of Forest Management. 

trees become large, the fatteniug of swine upon the nuts and acorns 
is usually allowed. 

404. in such a forest, in best condition, the trees are much 
nearer together than as we commonly find them in a wild -wood •} 
the ground is so shaded that no grass \\\\\ grow, and the seeds that 
fall soon perish for want of air and light. In fact the trees them- 
selves do not bear seeds as freely as when they have more space. 

405. At the time of these thinnings, the soft woods of more 
rapid growth, such as the poplars, birches, alders, etc., should be 
taken out where they are not wanted ; but a mixture of kinds, such 
as the oak and beech, or the beech and Scotch pine is often en- 
couraged, as they agree well together, and make a more profitable 
product than either would alone. As the oak yields a more valu- 
able timber, they generally prefer to give it a greater chance. 

406. Care should be taken to clear out the brambles and shrubs, 
good for nothing but faggots, and which are bound in bundles and 
sold. The branches of trees cut in thinning are also used as 
faggots. 

407. Fiftally, as the time for general cutting draws near, and it 
becomes necessary to provide for a new forest-growth, the seeding 
of the plants that are to form the future forest is secured without 
cost, and with great success, by a simple course of management that 
deserves careful notice : 

408. At first, they take out some of the trees uniformly over the 
whole surface, so as to let in the air and light, and thus favor the 
remaining trees in bearing fruit. The seeds that form fall under or 
near the parent trees, and become lightly covered by the leaves of 
the same season. Being on the surface of a rich soil, which has 
been forming for a long period, from the decay of foliage, and now 
exposed to the sun's light and warmth, they spring up as young 

^Nothing can be more impressive to one accustomed only to the irregu- 
larity of a)i American forest, than the sight of a well kept European plan- 
tation in iull growth. As he looks into the gloomy recesses, the trees stand 
in rows like organ pipes, greatl}' exceeding in number those ever found 
from spontaneous growth, and with a symmetry in size and height that is 
remarkable. When seen at a distance, such forests appear level at the top, 
and we often see different levels, indicating differences in a^e. The hest 
cultivated forests of Germany are worth from three to five times as much 
as native woods. 



Eur ojKan Plans of Forest Management, 105 

plants, and in a year or two the whole surface of the woodland is 
carpeted with the fresh green foliage of young seedling trees. 

409. These tender plants would soon wither and perish in the full 
light of day in an open field. They need just the kind of shelter 
that the parent-trees afford. The sunlight comes down sprinkled 
here and there, and the shadows pass over them, so that with this 
alternation of light and shelter the plants receive just the proportion 
that is needed for their most thrifty growth. 

410. As they gain in size, they need more light, and will bear 
more exposure ; and finally, when they need shelter no longer, the 
remaining trees are carefully taken out, and the young forest starts 
off on a new j^eriod, to supply timber for the use of generations un^ 
born. 

411. This period in the larch and the birch ranges from 50 to GO 
years, or with the former in cold regions it may extend to 120 or 
140 years. With the locust and the maritime, Aleppo and Corsican 
pines, it is from CO to 70 years ; with the Scotch pine, it is from 80 
to 90 years; Avith the beech, from 80 to 140 years; with the ash, 
from 90 to 100 years; with the chestnut, from 90 to 120 years; 
with the spruce, from 90 to 140 years; with the fir, from 100 to 
140, the average being about 120 years; with the elm, 100 to 120 
years ; and with the oak, 120 to 200 years. 

412. The profits of a full-grown forest, as compared with a cop- 
pice, are very great. It is shown by Hartig, a noted German au- 
thor, that a high forest cut at 120 years bears to a coppice cut once 
in 30 years, through the same time, the proportion of 7 to 4, all re- 
ceipts and expenses being taken into the account. 

413. Whenever the time shall come that our only supplies of 
timber are furnished by cultivation, great corporations will doubtless 
be formed, for managing great forest properties, under skilled 
agents, and with a capital that can afford to wait a long time, so 
long as it is earning a good rate, and promises a sure profit. By 
such means, forests can be grown to great advantage, but best upon 
an extensive scale. 

European Forest Administrations. 

414. In every country upon the continent of Europe, considerable 
tracts of woodland belong to the government. The local munici- 
palities (communes, cities, etc.) own other tracts, generally near or 



106 Eiiro;pean Forest Administrations. 

within their limits, and often subject to rights of common usage, 
such as the supply of wood for fuel or building purposes, pasturage, 
feeding of swine upon acorns, and the like. Many public estab- 
lishments, such as churches, monasteries, charities, etc., also own 
forest estates, as a part of their endowment. 

415. Over all of these the government has supervision, and there 
has grown up an organized branch of the public service, known as 
the Forest Administration, with regular grades of promotion, and 
generally pensions to tliose who have spent their strength in the 
service until their working days are over. 

416. In the German States, and in the Scandinavian kingdoms, 
the Forest Administration is generally a branch of the Ministry of 
Finances ; in Russia, in that of the Imperial Domains, and in Aus- 
tria, France, Italy, and Spain, it is associated with the Ministry of 
Agriculture, or of Agriculture and Commerce, with some differences 
due to the organization of the several governments. 

417. They agree in having a central administrative office, from 
whence all important business is ordered, and to which reports are 
made. They generally have in the superior grades of service a 
number of inspectors, who make periodical visits to the different 
forests, to observe their condition, and detect any fliult or neglect 
that may have crept into their management. It is in some coun- 
tries the custom to transfer the local superintendents from time to 
time to new fields of duty, as tending to a more faithful discharge 
of their trusts. 

418. There is also a system of forest-guards, sometimes organized 
upon a military basis, for the protection of timber and game, and 
to see that the work of cutting and removal of products is done in 
accordance with regulations. These guards, when on duty, always 
wear a uniform, and are commonly armed with a carbine. They 
may make summary arrests, and are held accountable for any dam- 
age or trespass done within their districts which are not promptly 
reported by them for investigation and punishment. 

419. For every grade of service a uniform is prescribed, to be 
worn when on duty, and on certain public occasions, as in our army 
and navy. Green, among Foresters, is a favorite color, and an oak- 
leaf-and-acorn is a common symbol of the profession. A marking- 
hammer is also a symbol of the Forester, as is the anchor with the 
sailor, or the pick with the miner. 



European Forest Societies, Periodicals and Schools. 107 

Forest Societies : Periodical Literature. 

420. Forest societies of various kinds are organized in most coun- 
tries. These generally meet quarterly or annually for the discussion 
of subjects of professional interest, and their proceedings are usually 
published. These annual meetings usually last several days, and 
excursions are commonly made to places of interest. Besides these 
associations, composed of proprietors and professional foresters, there 
are various other associations, some for mutual relief of members, 
and some for special objects, such as the maintenance of schools of 
Forestry, the prosecution of experimental researches, the interests 
concerned in the lumber and timber trade, etc. 

421. There are also a great number of periodicals, issued at reg- 
ular intervals, and wholly or partly devoted to the interests of For- 
estry. If we include quarterlies and annuals with those issued 
monthly or oftener, the number would amount to nearly fifty. 
Many of these are conducted with great ability, and afford substan- 
tial aid to the interest to wdiich they are devoted. 

Schools of Forestry. 

422. Nearly every government upon the continent in Europe 
has established one or more Schools of Forestry, for preparing 
young men for service as officers of the forest and administration. 
None can enter this service until they have passed through the 
studies and practical exercises at these schools. The course gener- 
ally lasts two to three years, and the students must first finish their 
studies in the public schools. They are taught mathematics, natural 
sciences (especially botany and entomology), chemistry, meteorology, 
physics, sylviculture, drawing, surveying, forest and hunting laws, 
forest management, etc., and make regular excursions with the pro- 
fessors, for observation and practice. 

423. The following are the principal schools of Forestry in 
Europe. Those preceded by a star are connected with some univer- 
sity or other institution : 

Austria: ^'Vienna, Eulenburg, Weisswasser, Lemburg, Aggs- 
bach, Bergenz, ^'Schenmitz, and *Gratz, and of lower grade in 
other places. 

Denmark : ^Copenhagen. 

Finland : Evois. 



108 Schools of Forestry : Planting of Dunes. 

France: Naocy, Barres, and '-^Paris. (iDstitut Agronomiqne.) 

Germany : Baden, ^'Carlsruhe ; Bavaria, Aschaffeiibiirg, and 
^Munich ; Hessf^-Darinstadt, -'^Giessen ; PrKSsia, Eberswalde and 
Mil n den ; Saxe- Weimar, Eisnacli ; Saxony, Tharaud ; WtiHemhurgy 
^'Tiibingen. 

Italy : Vallombrosa. 

Norway: At two or three places small elementary schools. 

Portugal: ^Lisbon. 

Pussia: St. Petersburg, -^Moscow, Lisino, and *Nova Alexandria 
(Poland), besides a short course at six farm schools. 

Sjpain : Escorial. 

Sweden: Stockholm, and small schools at seven other places. 

Sivitzerland : 'i^Zurich. 

Turkey : Constantinople. 

424. These schools generally have forest gardens, laboratories, 

collections in natural history, and especially in Forestry, and special 

libraries connected with them. In Austria, several of them are 

supported by Forest Associations, composed of land proprietors and 

others interested in Forestry. In many universities and polytechnic 

institutions, Forestry is incidentally taught as a part of their general 

course. 

Planting of Dunes. 

425. On certain coasts the sands thrown up by the Avaves are 
drifted by the winds into hills, sometimes two hundred feet or more 
in height and miles in width, which are constantly changing in 
form, and gradually advancing inland. These drifting sands, by 
closing the mouths of streams, generally cause a series of ponds 
to be formed behind them, which may render the country sickly, as 
Avell as the soil worthless from overflow. In various places on the 
northern and western coast of France, villages and hamlets have been 
buried by drifting sands, and considerable tracts of fertile land have 
been thus overwhelmed.^ The planting of these "dunes," and their 
control, may be reckoned among the proudest achievements of 
Forestry. 

426. In these exposed places, the plants need shelter in getting 
started, and the first thing to be done is to compel the winds to 
build a high and regular embankment for their protection. To se- 

^ We have an example of these disasters at Grand Haven, Michigan, 
where u railroad station has been buried by drifting sands. 



Planting of Dimes. 109 

cure tills, a line of obstructions is placed along the shore, three or 
four hundred feet from the water's edge, consisting of bundles of 
faggots set in diagonal rows near together, or planks three or four 
feet high, with a space of an inch between. A part of the sand as 
it glides along will lodge in front of these obstructions, and a j^art 
will pass through and settle behind. 

427. As they get buried, a new series of bundles of fiiir^ots is 
set, or the planks are drawn up, from time to time, and a huge 
mound of sand is finally formed, with a gentle slope towards the sea 
(7° to 12°) and one more abrupt (about 22*^) on the land side. These 
slopes are then sown with beach-grass and other maritime plants, 
in squares like a chess-board, so that they will spread and cover the 
whole surface, and behind they sow the seeds of trees. 

42(S. On the southwestern coast of France, the most ample suc- 
cess has followed from planting the maritime pine (Plnus pinaster) , 
the seeds being sown with those of beach-grass, and covered with 
brush. This work was begun by Bremontier, an engineer under the 
auspices of the government, in 1787, and is now practically finished 
and the whole coast covered with a profitable growth of timber.^ 

429. In other regions, where this pine will not thrive, various 
grasses, with tracing roots, Scotch pine, poplars, willows, tamarisk, 
and other plants are set, as the opportunities present. 

430. Upon the coast of Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, the pitch 
pine (P. rigida) and the beach-grass (Calamagrostis arenaria) are 
planted on the dunes with great success. Upon the Florida coast, 
and further north, the Bermuda grass {djnodon dadylon) has been 
used with success, and the maritime pine may succeed there, 
although it has ftiiled upon tlie Massachusetts coast. 

431. There are occasionally places in the interior where the sands 
exposed to the winds will thus drift, and the surest way to prevent 
this is by planting. In this we should begin on the side of the pre- 
vailing winds, and if the soil is somewhat damp, willow cuttings 

^In Octolier, 1881, we rode some twenty miles on horseback among ihese 
dunes, in the neighborhood of Arcachon and La Teste. The pines aro 
largely used for the production of turpentine, and are cut out from time to 
time, as they become large, to make room for a younger growth, but never 
in bodies together, or so as to expose the sand. Many years ago the govern- 
ment placed a monument in tlie midst of the pines that Bremontier planted, 
to commemorate his great achievement. 



110 Methods of Bchoiscmevt, 

may provide the best defense. If seeds are sowu, It may be neces- 
sary to cover them with brush, that is fastened down with stakes. 
Under this cover, the plants may get well rooted; and if this is se- 
cured, the success of the work is certain. 

Reboisement 

432. By "reboisement," we mean the planting of woodlands 
where they have been destroyed, and especially where their destruc- 
tion has caused great injury from torrents by the eroding of mountain 
sides, and covering the valleys below with stone and gravel. The 
desolation and sterility thus occasioned is increased by pasturage, 
especially by sheep and goats, so that regions once highly fertile 
and densely populated have often l/ccome utterly desolate and 
solitary. 

433. In recent years, most European governments have taken 
measures to stop these ruinous practices, and have with much suc- 
cess, but at vast expense, secured a gradual return of fertility, and 
an effectual prevention of future injuries. These measures may be 
described under two heads : 

(a.) Barriers for checking the Torrents. 

434. These are made of stone, in the bottoms of the ravines, and 
convex up-stream, the top being lowest in the middle. They are 
sometimes made of bundles of willow securely fastened down. 
They will then often spout and grow, thus by their roots preventing 
further erosion. 

(6.) Reboisement of the denuded Slopes. 

435. This is by far the most important, and often the more diffi- 
cult work to be done, as it tends to prevent the formation of the 
torrents. The rains that fall upon a wooded, or even a sodded 
slope, have their force broken, and they quietly filter into the soil, 
or flow down with so many obstructions that they do no injury. 
But on a bare surface, they begin to wear little channels, which 
presently enlarge in width and depth, till they become enormous 
chasms. 

436. To secure a wooded or sheltered surface, the soil should be 



Methods of Rcboiscment, 111 

disturbed as little as possible in sowing or planting, and on a north 
slope the seed may sometimes be best sown on the snow. 

437. Steep banks that will probably slide or crumble down, should 
be rendered more sloping before trees are planted. They are dug 
away at the top, and the soil slid into the ravine below, or some- 
times thrown down by blasting. A drain may be secured by first 
filling in the bottom with trees and brush. 

4o8. To obtain a chance for the roots of trees, the steep naked 
slopes are dug into horizontal notches or terraces, beginning at the 
top, and the edges of these are planted with almost any thing that 
can be made to grow, or at least are secured by fascines and* strong 
stakes. These bands are nearer together where the slope is steeper, 
and the brush by slow decay helps to fertilize the soil. These ter- 
races tend to get filled up in a year or two, and thus afford a soil 
deep enough to hold the trees, and then lines of young trees from 
nurseries are set along these belts of deep soil. If they get fairly 
rooted, they will secure the object intended, and will prevent tlie 
recurrence of further damages. 

439. Paths are made along the banks, to give access to the work, 
and for future use in the removal of products, but in these situa- 
tions no tree will ever be taken, unless others are coming on to re- 
place it. By these costly but necessary methods, about one-fourth 
part of the work to be done in France in the way of restoration by 
reboisement, which was begun in 1860, had been accomplished in 
16 years, and 63,168 acres had been replanted with trees, at an 
enormous cost ; but this expense was less than the damages which 
n single flood might produce, and which wooded slopes on the hills 
and mountains would have prevented. 

440. In many parts of our own country, and especially in the 
mountainous regions of the interior and upon the Pacific coast, the 
greatest injury is being done from the clearing and burning off of 
mountain sides, and we already notice a marked effect upon the 
climate, aside from the local damages to the surface from this cause. ^ 
The same, in less degree, may be seen in every part of the country, 
.wherever there are steep slopes exposed to heavy rains; and private 
interests should lead to watchful care, in every case where these 
effects are in operation, or are liable to occur. 

^ See Forestry Eeport, 1877, p. o?A, for a statement of these effects. 



112 A European Method of Forest Plaiiting. 

Oil the Management of Forest Plantations in Scotland, 

441. A Forester of great experience^ has given the following 
summary of the course usually pursued in the management of wood- 
lands in Scotland: **For ordinary planting, the size of plants pre- 
ferred are one year as seedling and two years transplanted ; but for 
bare heathery ialls, that are much exposed, fir plants one year as 
seedling and one year transplanted, or two years' seedling are con- 
sidered best. These are planted by notching. 

442. " The most approved mode of planting coniferous trees here 
is as follows : If the soil and situation are considered likely to pro- 
duce larch {Larix Europea) to maturity as sound timber, it is gen- 
erally planted as a pure crop, with a very slight intermixture of 
silver fir {Abies pectinata) and Scot's fir {Piniis sylvestris) among the 
larches. If there is any doubt of the larch being overtaken by 
disease, then we plant larch and Scot's fir in equal numbers, at four 
feet apart, regularly intermixing them. 

443. " In training them, the plantation may be trained up as a 
mixed one, or if the larches prove healthy, it may be converted 
wholly into a pure larch, or if otherwise, into a pure Scot's fir 
plantation. Hence we plant a larger area under Scot's fir, with a 
considerable mixture of larch, and often on soft moorknd a consid- 
erable number of spruce and silver fir ; but the ground, where re- 
quiring it, is thoroughly drained first. The trees are put in by 
slitting. 

444. "Oak and all other hard-wood trees are planted at from 12 to 
15 feet apart, and the intermediate spaces are filled up generally 
with larch to four feet apart. A slight intermixture of other conif- 
erous trees is often introduced, so as to augment the ornamental 
character of the plantations. The larches and other firs are gradu- 
ally thinned out as the plantation advances, leaving a few inter- 
mixed for the ultimate crop. Oak and other hard-wood trees are 
planted by pitting. 

445. " The thinning of fir plantations commences when they have 
stood about ten years, and is repeated at intervals of 4 to 6 years, 

1 Mr. Wm. JlcCorquodale, who for 45 years has held the office of wood- 
ma( «i;er to the Earl of Mansfield. Mr. C. has also, during^ this period, sur- 
veyed and reported upon the future management of over IGO other forest 
estates in Scotland. 



Scotch Plantations : Ornamental Planting. 113 

till the plantation arrives at abaut 40 to 45 years of age. At each 
thinning, the trees are left standing about clear of each other. At 
certain stages of growtli, the trees might be thinned out to stand at 
one-third of their height apart, as, for example, trees of 21 feet 
might stand 7 feet apart. 

446. " We have generally, for the permanent crop, about 200 to 
250 trees per acre. After the last course of thinning, the trees are 
not interfered with again until they arrive at maturity. When the 
crop comes to the age of 60 to 80 years, it is sold in sections, in the 
growing state, and the ground is again replanted as soon as it is 
cleared off and properly prepared. 

447. " Hard-wood plantations are treated as follows : As soon as 
the nurses are interfering with the hard-wood trees, their thinning 
begins, and it is gradually carried on till they are all removed, by 
the time they arrive at thirty years of age, with the exception of 
such as are left for ornament, \o grow to maturity." 

448. An idea of the relative profit of trees of diflferent kinds in 
Scotland, we give the following list of prices of timber per cubic 
foot, in 1882: 

LiAi'ch Is. to Is. 2d. Oak (standing).... 2s. to 3.s. 

Scot's fir Qd to M. Ash Is. 3^/. to Is. M. 

Spruce id. to Qd. Beech \0d. to Is. 

Silver fir Grf. to lOrf. Elm Is. 3rf. to Is. 6c^. 

In 1876, fifteen acres of Scotch fir timber, 80 years old, near 
Perth, Scotland, sold for £132 per acre. A handsome revenue had 
been previously got from the thinnings. 

CHAPTER XI. 

ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 

449. Although the leading object of this book is to convey utili- 
tarian ideas upon the subject of tree-planting, and to indicate the 
methods and opportunities for doing this with most profit and sure.-t 
success, it should be borne in mind that these objects are not in the 
least degree inconsistent with a due appreciation of the beauties of 
woodland scenery, whether presented in the somber shadows of a 
dense fi)rest, the cheerful shade of a grove, or in the grandeur or 
grace of an isolated tree. 

8 



114 ' Ornamental Planting. 

450. In fact, there is nothing that ^Yill so effectually promote a 
taste for sylviculture, and a familiarity Avith the methods of For- 
estry, as the adornment of homesteads and villages by ornamental 
planting. The pleasures to be derived from this employment have 
been described by Addison, in the simplicity and elegance that char- 
acterize his style, in one of the numKers^ of the Spectator: 

451. "There is, indeed, something truly magnificent in this kind of 
amusement. It gives a nobler air to several parts of nature ; it 
fills the earth with a variety of beautiful scenes, and has something 
in it like creation. For this reason, the pleasure of one who plants 
is something like that of a poet, who, as Aristotle observes, is more 
delighted with his productions than any other writer or artist what- 
soever. Plantations have one advantage in them which is not to be 
found in most other works, as they give a pleasure of a more lasting 
date, and continually improve in the eye of the planter. When 
you have finished a building, or any other undertaking of the like 
nature, it immediately begins to decay on your hands; you see it 
brought to its utmost point of perfection, and from that time hast- 
ening to its ruin. On the contrary, when you have finished your 
plantations, they are still arriving at greater degrees of perfection, 
as long as you live, and appear more delightful in each succeeding 
year than they did in the foregoing." 

452. To realize how much the imagery of the poets and of beauty 
in landscape painting depends upon sylvan scenery and rural asso- 
ciations, we need but imagine how blank and dreary would poetry 
and painting be without them. Whatever tends to cultivate and 
extend this appreciation of the beautiful in nature is in direct ad- 
vancement of Forestry. In this the taste and good sense of one, 
may become an example for another, as in every phase of life, and 
in every pursuit of business or of pleasure. Mankind are largely 
influenced by the example of others, and can often assign no better 
reason for this imitation than that it is the practice of neighbors. 

453. It has sometimes been a custom to plant a tree to commem- 
orate an event — the birth of a child ; the visit of an illustrious 
guest ; the graduation of a college class, and other occasions, which 
give a lasting interest to the act. It occasionally happens that some 
historical incident becomes associated with a tree, as the Royal Oak 

1 No. 583. 



Ornamental Planting. 115 

tliat once sheltered Charles the Second ; the Charter Oak at Hart- 
ford, and the Treaty Tree at Philadelphia, wliich were monuments 
while they lasted, and were cherished as relics when they lell. 

454. It is a pleasant thing on any commemorative occasion, as 
the centennial of a town, the dedication of a church, or the founda- 
tion of an institution, to plant a tree as a living witness of tlie 
occasion. It should be of 'some long-living and large-growdng kind, 
to the end that it may for a long period bear in remembrance the 
occasion that gave it a place, and that claims for it a protection. 

455. In considering the subject of ornamental planting, it may 
be presented under the three following divisions, viz. : 

(1.) Home-adornment, and the planting of private grounds. 
(2.) Village-improvement, and the planting of the wayside. 
(3.) City parks, and the plantation of grounds in rural cemeteries, 
and around public institutions. 

(1.) Home-adornment, and the Planting of Private Grounds. 

456. In respect to this class of ornament, the author will venture 
to quote from a paper read by him bef:»re the Department of Siiper- 
intendcnce of the National Educational Association, at its meeting 
held in New York city, in the spring of 1881, as presenting thoughts 
concerning the motives and their effect, that may be deemed of in- 
terest in this connection : 

457. " The man who has cleared a farm out of the forest seldom 
or never plants a tree. He has come, from long custom, to look 
upon trees as an incumbrance to be removed ; and whenever his 
home presents a noticeable amount of sylvan shade, it is more likely 
to be the w^ork of a younger generation, who have no sympathy 
with his aversion, and a better idea of the comforts of home-life. 
Americans have been reproached for having but slight attachment 
to the homes of their childhood ; and this willingness to sell to a 
stranger the land that a parent has cleared and cultivated, and on 
which their own early years have been spent, has been ascribed to 
a certain instability of character, and an uneasy desire for change. 
There is doubtless a strong affinity between a love of home and of 
country, and it is true that an attachment to a homestead because of 
ancestral possessions and family associations, would greatly tend to 
increase our national prosperity and happiness. It would lead to sub- 
stantial investments for permanence and future enjoyment, that the 



116 Ornamental Planting, 

transient and speculative owner would never make, and it would tend 
to the more solid foundation of our public institutions generally. The 
man who settles temporarily for business, and expects to depart when 
he becomes rich, spends no money upon public libraries, and cares noth- 
ing for the charitable and educational establishments of the place, pro- 
vided they do not burden him while he remains. His influence will 
generally be adverse, if these objects require expenses that bring no 
return during his stay, and he will prefer temporary expedients to per- 
manent investments, if they but serve to bridge over the time of his 
sojourn. The solid and substantial foundation of our institutions is 
laid by those having a permanent interest in the prosperity of the 
places where they are located. It is this class aloiiC that erects 
monuments, and that leaves evidence that its members have lived 
for the W'elfare of those who are to come after them. It is a point 
worthy of inquiry, as to whether much of this indifference to the 
home of childhood and to the possessions of ancestors with which 
Americans have been charged, is not due to their bleak and cheer- 
less surroundings. We can not dou])t that the influence of a pleas- 
ant rural homestead and the choice memories of refined associations 
in early youth, are as capable of making as strong an impression 
upon our native population as in any country whatever, and although 
in the absence of laws of entail, and under the impulse of adventure, 
or motives of interest, or the force of circumstances, a change of 
ownership may often happen, and the choice and cherished homestead 
become the property of a stranger, still the chances become less as 
the attractions are greater, and a motive worthy of earnest and hon- 
orable effort is presented, in favor of maintenance in the family 
line." 

458. In the choice of a site for farm buildings, while there is an 
obvious convenience in having them near a highway, there are ad- 
vantages to be considered in placing them more or less in the interior, 
wliere a spring of water or perennial stream may offer conveniences 
that money could not carry to a roadside residence, and a gentle 
swell of land a site for building that a prince might envy. The 
saving of labor and team-work, in cultivating such a centralized 
farm, should not be overlooked. 

459. A neatly painted grteway should distinguish the main 
entrance from others opening upon the highway, and if the farm be 
of size to warrant the steady employment of a laborer with his 



Ornamental Planting. 117 

family, English taste would place his cottage by the gate. A mass 
of shrubbery upon each side of the entrance gives a pleasing effect. 

460. A good road, bordered by an avenue of trees, should lead 
by gentle curves, as the surface required, to the premises of the 
owner. There may be a fence or not, as there is occasion, but a 
well kept hedge is better. One advantage of the trees would be to 
afford a guide by night, as well as shade by day. They should be 
set at measured intervals, and all of one kind. Such an avenue, 
when fully grown, gives a stately effect, and an air of stability and 
opulence flir surpassing that of an irregular one, as if from trees 
reserved in a clearing ; and it may be had at no considerable cost. 
If an intervening grove hides the dwelling until near approach, and 
then presents it in full' view, the effect is increased. 

461. Large trees in the back-ground, and those of smaller size 
and of less common kinds, in the foreground, produce the finest 
effect. It is there that the species most ornamental from their blos- 
soms, their fruit, or their bright-colored ornamental foliage, may be 
used with greatest advantage. There should be a studied effort to 
imitate nature in the groupings of trees and shrubbery, and this can 
not be done by placing them in rows or in symmetrical order, but in 
clumps, with openings here and there, and with a studied avoidance 
of the formal in their arrangement. 

462. With such approaches and surroundings, which do not re- 
quire a large investment, a dwelling of itself not large or expensive, 
may display an air of comfort, and even of opulence, which a more 
costly mansion by the roadside, unadorned by trees and shrubbery, 
could never be made to present. It gives to the observer the im- 
pression that its owner has not only means but taste, and is a strong 
indication of domestic happiness within. 

463. The opportunities of a brook for supplying a fountain, or 
feeding a fish-pond, may often occur, and the observing owner 
may secure these ornaments at a moderate expense. His fountain 
will not need costly castings or masonry— the jets may issue from 
piles of rustic rock-work, and his ponds may be bordered with a line 
of rude stones, half concealed by ferns and wild flowers, and the 
bottom covered with clean white sand. 

464. But in case the buildings are already near the highway, and 
there be no desire to change them, there are still opportunities for 
rural adornment, to ample extent. The roadside may be bordered 



118 Ornamental Planting, 

with lines of trees as we approach from either way; screens of ever- 
green may be planted on the cold side or the warm side, as there 
may be need of shelter from the cold, or heat, or to conceal objects 
not pleasing to the eye, and groups of shrubbery may be planted iu 
clumps, or iu masses, as may be found most pleasing and natural. 
There should, upon large grounds, be a suitable variety, but if the 
space be small, it is not wise to attempt too much. A single phase 
cf Vjeauty, of whatever type the circumstances most favor, is sure 
to be pleasing ; where, if too many objects be to closely crowded, 
the effect is confused and lost. 

465. Large and dense evergreens in the foreground would be very 
likely to produce a gloomy and somber impression ; they will be 
found to show to best advantage, rising in the back-ground, behind 
and among the deciduous kinds. 

466. Trees should not be planted too near a dwelling. Their 
shade and humidity are unfavorable to health, if iu excess, and 
they tend to cause damp, moldy walls. They hinder ventilation 
and the access of air and light, so conducive to health, and some- 
times breed insects that prove a nuisance. Their roots will find 
their way into the walls ; and trees planted near a building become 
one-sided and deformed, from their unequal exposure to the light. 

467. There is always something to conceal. An old stump, or 
broken and dead tree, may possibly be still made beautiful with 
the Virginia creeper or the ivy. Barns and out-buildings may be 
partly hidden, or entirely screened Irom notice by trees, and a barn- 
yard may be made comfortable for stock, both in winter and sum- 
mer, by dense shelter-belts. A useless pile of bowlders, or a rock, 
may be covered with ferns and myrtle, by giving their roots a hold 
iu the soil. A brook, a marshy spot, or a pond, may be made orna- 
mental, by drooping willows, or clumps of alders, and by a variety 
of aquatic shrubs and plants. 

468. It is in good taste to separate the kitchen garden by a hedge, 
from the lawn plantations, and it is generally profitable to surround 
the orchard with a shelter belt, or an evergreen screen. Clumps of 
thrifty evergreens, here and there in an orchard, are of great ad- 
vantage. 

469. The Lombardy poplar forms an admirable wind-break ; but 
in ornamental planting it shows to best advantage when it rises 
from behind, or among trees with rounded tops — not at measured 



Ornamental Planting. 119 

intervals, but here and there. The same may be said of the ever- 
greens having a pyramidal growth, unless they are purposely in- 
tended as a screen or wind-break. The eye will tolerate a symmetry 
of arrangement where there is an obvious object, while symmetry 
without a motive may fail to please. 

470. In planting poplars and willows, we should remember that 
their roots have a great liking for drains and wells, and will some- 
times fill them if too near. They may cause leaks in aqueducts 
of masonry, and the roots of these and other trees may heave foun- 
dations and displace stone walls, if planted close by them, in a deep 
mellow soil. These qualities become of the greatest value in con- 
solidating the soil of eroding streams, and upon embankments, the 
borders of irrigating ditches, and upon sands, where moisture can 
be reached by the roots. They should be used in ornamental plant- 
ing, where they can be placed to best advantage, but should gener- 
ally have a secondary place. 

471. In the immense range of opportunity which our country 
presents, there is an infinite variety of conditions, and in the vast 
number of our native species, and of exotic kinds that prove suit- 
able for cultivation, no general rules could be followed in homestead 
planting. If the general idea of studying the pleasing effects in 
natural grouping be observed, and proper judgment is used in the 
selection of kinds suited to the soil and exposure, the result will be 
satisfactory. 

472. It may be added that such a homestead is ivorth more money 
than one wholly unadorned. This is indeed a low^ motive, as com- 
pared with the more refined and honorable aims of life ; but if we 
can secure the enjoyment that these improvements afford, and at 
the same time enhance the value of the estate, let us by no means 
miss the opportunity. 

(2.) Village-improvement, and the Planting of Way-sides. 

473. Nothing gives a more inviting appearance to a village street, 
or a country road, than well kept avenues of trees. To secure the 
best effect, attention should be paid to the following rules : 

(a.) In a village or city, the planting and care should be under 
one direction, although the expense may be chargeable to the prop- 
erty adjacent. This may be some officer designated by law, or a 



120 Ornamental Planting. 

committee of citizens whose authority is recognized by general con- 
sent. 

(b.) Upon a given street, the trees should be all of one kind. 
The different streets may be planted with different kinds, and a 
pleasing diversity thus secured. 

(c.) The lines of trees should not be less than six feet, and in 
wiile streets not less than eight or ten feet from the outer line. In 
very wide and quiet streets, not thoroughfares, a charming effect is 
secured, by having a line of trees in the middle, with carriage-ways 
on each side, and at proper crossings. 

((/.) The trees should be protected by proper guards while young, 
and generally by a railing on the side towards the middle of the 
road when they have grown to a large size. 

(e.) They should be protected by well-enforced ordinances, and 
by public sentiment, from being used as hitching-posts for horses. 
To prevent the necessity, such posts should be provided, far enough 
away to be free from danger to the trees ; it may still be within 
their shade. 

(/.) For immediate effect, as well as ultimate advantage to the 
plantation, the trees first set may be at half the distance apart that 
is intended for the full-grown trees ; and the alternate ones may be 
of some quickly growing kind, that should be taken out as they 
crowd the more valuable kinds which are to remaiu. Tliese tem- 
porary trees will tend to render the growth of those between them 
hio-her, and will leave less trimming necessary afterwards. The 
cottonwoods, soft -maples, poplars, and willows afford canvenient 
trees for such uses. 

(g.) Care should be taken that the soil be kept mellow around 
the roots, and that they be watered while young in times of great 
drouth. 

474. In streets much traveled, a grating placed in the pavement, 
and extending a yard or so on every side, would be useful. In Eu- 
rope, iron gratings of ornamental design are placed around the 
trees, but not in contact with them. They are on a level with the 
pavement, and so placed as not to obstruct traveh Througli these 
gratings the air circulates freely, and the roots are fully exposed to 
the rains. They may be watered and fertilized in case of need, and 
the sjil mellowed by spading from time to time. We here present 
the sketch of a grating suitable for such a purpose. It may be made 



Ornameyital Planting. 



121 



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68, Screen for placing over Roots of 
Trees in Pavements. 



highly ornamental, and a monogram, a trade-mark, a sign, or any 
other device may be introduced, 
that fancy might suggest. In front 
of premises owned by a city or a 
state, the crest of the official arms 
would be very projjer. The part 
with radiating bars, in this sketch, 
might be of several sizes, to be 
changed as the tree became large, 
and the grating might be sup- 
ported by wrought-iron bars, as 
represented by dotted lines. The 
inner disc should be cast in two sections, and the outer one in 
two or more. In our figure we have shown three divisions. They 
should be securely fastened down, and would be very durable. 
They might be circular, oval, or in any other form, and being flush 
with the pavements, tlicy would not in the least interfere with their 
use. The edge nearest the tree should have a flange turned up, so 
as to prevent injury t;) the bark by sliding objects. 

475. With respect to the kinds of trees most suitable for streets 
and roadsides, it is impossible to give a rule. There are some, like 
the horse chestnut, the catalpas, and the conifers generally, that ap- 
pear to better advantage alone or in groups, upon a lawn or in a 
park, wdiile others, like the elms, box-elder, maples, locusts, poplars, 
lindens, and many of the oaks show to fine advantage in avenues. 

476. In Germany, we see many miles of continuous lines of ap- 
ple trees by the roadside, and in the absence offences marking their 
direction for great distances across the country. In France, it is 
common to find the Lombardy poplar thus planted ; and in Italy, 
the mulberry and the olive, often supporting festoons of grape- 
vines, and in their season loaded with fruit. 

477. In planting the roadsides in a prairie, a rod or so of land should 
be thoroughly broken up and cultivated along the line, before the 
trees are set, and some hoed crop may be cultivated to advantage 
between and around them till they get well set. 

478. In planting screens of evergreen to prevent snowdrifts in 
exposed places, the trees should be set in several oblique rows, as in 
the quincunx order [§ 181], and should be protected, if need be, by 
a fence, until able to protect themselves. 



122 Ornamental Planting. 

479. In i^lanting avenues of trees, it is best to have the holes all 
dug before the young trees are brought upon the ground. The 
holes should be deeper than the tree is to set, and wide enough to 
allow the roots to be well spread. Some fresVsoft, mellow, and fer- 
tile soil should be thrown upon the bottom, before the trees are 
placed, so as to bring up the tree nearly to the level at which it 
formerly stood. 

480. Observations have been made to ascertain whether a tree 
does better when set in the same position with respect to points of 
compass that it stood in before planting, the conclusion being that 
there was no perceptible difference. 

481. After spreading the roots, sprinkle over them first the richer 
soil from the surface, so that it shall settle closely in among them, 
leaving no void places. Then fill in the holes, putting the soil from 
the deepest part on top. In prairie planting, and especially in dry 
regions, there is no danger in pressing down the soil firmly over the 
roots. In a strong clay soil, this practice would be injurious. 

482. The young fibers of the roots require moisture at once. In 
a moderately damp soil, they can find it, but in a dry soil they 
should be well wet as soon as planted, and in a dry season after- 
wards until the plants are w^ell rooted. 

483. The most effectual security against injury from drouth is in 
mulching; and for this, decayed chips, hay, grass straw, or dead 
leaves may be used. This practice Avill sometimes double ihe 
growth in a single year, and save the life of a young tree in dry 
seasons. 

484. Before leaving the subject of planting in villages, we should 
not omit to notice the advantages to be derived irouiVillage Improve- 
ment Associations, in the cultivation of a taste for rural ornament, 
and the develojoment of town pride and public spirit. In many 
villages in New England and elsewhere, such associations have been 
formed, and from the concert of action and unity of purpose that 
they secure, they have done much to adorn and beautify their locali- 
ties, thus rendering them more agreeable to their citizens and more 
inviting to the transient visitor, and to those wdio may be seeking a 
pleasant rural residence. 

48o. To give these associations permanence and regularity, they 
should have the form of a regular Society, with a Constitution, By- 
laws, and rules of membership, and their object may extend beyond 



Ornamental Planting. 123 

the simple ornamenting of streets by planting and paving, to their 
grading and drainage, the maintenance of grass plats and flower- 
beds upon jiublic squares, the providing of fountains and drinking 
troughs, the clearing off of snows in winter, lighting of streets at 
night, and other subjects of like character. 

486. Extending beyond the material, they may wisely include 
the intellectual welfare of their localities, by the formation and 
maintenance of a public library and reading-room, courses of public 
lectures, local museums, and, in short, whatever tends to elevate 
and refine the taste, or to promote the enjoyment of the citizens by 
uniting them in common interests, wherein each one contributes his 
share, and from which he derives pleasure. 

487. An attractive plantation of streets and squares in one village, 
becomes an object for imitation in another, and by friendly emula- 
tion, each may tend to stimulate the eflforts of the other in securing 
a beautiful effect. 

488. Where the children in the public schools, and students in 
academies can be interested in these improvements, the impressions 
formed may be permanent, and will find application in after life in 
diffusing a correct taste for rural adornment in places far remote, 
while the memory will travel back to these scenes of quiet beauty, 
and rest with satisfaction upon the incidents that they recall.^ 

(3.) City Parks, and the Plantation of grounds in Rural Cemeteries , 
and around Public Institutions. 

489. It is only in recent years that the advantages of providing 
places of public resort, under official management, in the neighbor- 
hood of our cities and large towns have been recognized, or the op- 

^The form of a charter of a "Village Impi-ovement Association," by 
George E. Waring, Jr., is given in Scribner's monthly for iMay, 1877, and 
the subject is further noticed in our Forestry Keport for 1877, page 217. 
The Hon, B. G. Northrup, Mr. N. H. Egleston and others, have done much 
to promote these objects, and their writings may be consulted with great 
advantage. 

T'le city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is sometimes called the ^'Druid City,''' 
from the oaks planted some forty five years ago, at the instance of J\Ir. 
Thomas Maxwell. The city of Cleveland is called the "-Forest City'' throui;h 
the 1 la!itations induced by the late Leonard Case, and other property 
owners. New Haven is called the " City of Ehns," and well deserves its 
name. 



124 Ornamc7ital Planting. 

portunitles afforded by wild and rocky suburb, or of waste and vacant 
grounds for rural adornment, have been improved. In other cases 
there are still barren wastes, river banks, shores, islands and points 
of land, within or near a city, and sometimes belonging to the cor- 
poration, that have not yet been noticed, where, at a moderate ex- 
pense, there might be secured a little paradise of beauty, and an 
inviting place of resort. 

490. In laying out city parks, the leading idea should be to make 
them easily accessible, and as widely useful as possible. 

491. They need not, therefore, embrace wide areas, unless there be 
convenient bodies of land available, but they should be as long as 
may be. They may sometimes consist of separate jiieces connected 
by broad, well-planted boulevards or avenues. It is an excellent 
plan, where the space is ample, to lay out the boundary-street, at 
one or two hundred feet distance, within the actual line of owner- 
ship, at the beginning, and to sell or lease this strip of land outside, 
upon condition that dwellings shall be built and maintained upon 
plans prescribed or approved by the commissioner in charge, and 
that their future use for purposes injurious to the general objects of 
the park be forbidden in their title deeds or leases. 

492. In some instances, vacant grounds near cities have been 
highly improved with plantations, fountains, lakes, and other objects 
of rural interest, upon private account ; and the adjacent and inter- 
vening lands sold upon conditions tending to maintenance and to great 
profit upon the investment. Where persons of congenial tastes, and 
united by a common sympathy in social, educational, religious, or 
other matters, can establish suburban colonies of this kind near our 
large cities, they may multiply the enjoyments of life indefinitely, 
and by carefully arranging a plan of organization in the beginning, 
they may secure the maintenance of their object, by the exclusion of 
any thing that might interfere with its operation. Even as a simple 
speculation, such enterprises have an admirable effect, and in some 
instances present an inviting field for investment. 

4:)3. The traveler in Europe will often find the line of fortifications 
of a former period now converted, or in process of transformation, 
into a line of gardens and pleasure-grounds, the moat affording 
ready-made a meandering lake, and the slopes and ramparts still 
left presenting that diversity of surface most desirable for ornamental 
plantation. Upon certain of these points admirable sites are found 



Ornamental Planting. 125 

for the erection of statues and monuments where they will appear 
to best advantage. The cities of Copenhagen and of Leipzig may 
be mentioned as examples, while the " Ring-Balm" of Vienna, one 
of the finest streets of Europe, owes its beauty to the line of pub- 
lic and private buildings which have been built upon the line of 
its former defenses. 

494. It occasionally happens that certain points in these meander- 
ing gardeus have a local history of thrilling interest, as being places 
of successful attack, or of heroic defense, or as the point where the 
fate of a battle was decided, or the fortunes of a commander made 
or lost. 

495. In a city park, a native woodland can often be improved to 
great advantage, and artificial plantations are most successful where 
they truly represent the features of a native forest. In the plant- 
ing of trees in parks, with the exception of avenues of approach or 
connection, there should be a studied diversity in location, and a 
great variety in the species. 

496. There should also be — what is not often seen — at least 
some portion specially planted as an arboretum, embracing in groups, 
by natural families, as great a number of species of each genius as 
can be made to grow, each being labeled tvith its scientific arid common 
name. 

497. In planting small parks upon college grounds, or in the midst 
of great thoroughfares, we must remember that persons upon busi- 
ness always hasten to their object in direct lines. They are impatient 
at curves and winding ways, and will strike straight across a plat 
of ground or a corner, unless absolutely prevented by a barrier. 

498. It is therefore unwise to contend against this fact, in the 
arrangement of walks in such places, and it is better to lay out a 
few straight paths in the lines of most travel, at the sacrifice of what 
might be thought a principle in taste, or a rule in landscape garden- 
ing. Such walks may still be made attractive by flowers and 
shrubbery along their borders, and comfortable by the shade of 
trees. 

499. If the space allows, there should generally be provided in 
these small parks such winding path.s as the surface and the circum- 
stances favor. Tliey will be used only in moments of leisure, and 
by persons seeking quiet and rest. 

500. If there be summer-houses, grottoes, fountains, monuments, 



126 Ornamental Planting. 

or objects of historical interest, that attract attention, or invite to 
repose, they should be placed near these winding and less frequented 
paths, rather than along the great thoroughfares of a park, and 
along these chiefly should seats be placed. 

501. It is the custom, however, in Europe, to place monuments 
or other structures intended to inspire patriotic sentiment, or remind 
the passer-by of a religious duty, in the most conspicuous parts of pub- 
lic grounds, and often in the midst of the most frequented thorouo-h- 
fares. The little areas formed by intersecting city avenues present 
the best opportunities for costly monuments and fountains, as they 
may be seen to a distance from several directions. If possible they 
should be ipclosed, with a grass-plat or beds of flowers around them, 
but no shrubbery or trees that would conceal any part. 

502. In squares reserved for military parade, the area must nec- 
essarily be left open, and planting can be done only around the 

"borders. There may often be laid out an avenue for promenade, 
shaded by a single or double row of trees, and at the entrance there 
should be beds of flowers or colored-leaved plants, as the opportuni- 
ties offer. 

503. Upon the grounds belonging to universities, colleges, and 
academies, we insist upon the labeling of trees, as above mentioned, 
as one of the most important features of education, by familiarizino- 
the student and the visitor with these names, and of enablino- them 
to form true ideas concerning the resemblances and differences in 
the form, foliage, and other characteristics of forest trees. 

504. The best labels are tablets of porcelain, or of white earthen- 
ware, with the names in black enameled lettering. The cheapest 
are strips or plates of zinc, with the writing in a corrosive ink, that 
leaves indelible black lines. I^ either of these will suflfer from the 
weather, and both will last for an almost indefinite time. 

505. In rural cemeteries, there is great opportunity for efl^ect in 
the plantation of avenues of approach, and of masses of shrubbery 
and flowers around the entrance, and in the circles and plats formed 
by intersecting avenues. There should be, if possible, a belt of 
woodland, or its equivalent in a screen, that shall isolate it as ftir as 
convenient from the busy world, and impart that aspect of separa- 
tion and quiet, consistent with the general object of the place. 

506. Custom has given to the " funereal cypress," and to other 
evergreens, a prominence in cemeteries, and there is a certain fitness 



Ornamental Planting : Hedges and Screens. 127 

in their use ; but they should not exclude the proper introduction 
of tlie deciduous kinds. In this wc should, above all, avoid the 
planting of those that have tracing roots, as they are continually 
liable to send up shoots, and, if neglected, to overrun the premises, 
or at best occasion constant care in their suppression. 

507. The planting and removal of trees in a cemetery should be 
wholly under the control of a superintendent or a board, and by this 
means alone can harmony of arrangement and an agreeable effect 
be secured. 

508. Upon the grounds of public institutions generally, and in 
all forms of ornamental planting, there is an additional interest se- 
cured by the use of exotic and unusual species, provided always 
that they prove hardy and reliable. In this, the forest flora of 
Eastern Asia and Japan, from its general resemblance, yet specific 
differences, and the forests of the Himalaya region, have furnished 
many species that deserve to be widely planted, and more generally 
known. It is not improbable that by this wider diffusion, some 
species will be noticed that show an unexpected vigor and success 
in growth that may entitle them to notice for planting as timber 
trees. 

509. The English elm (Ulmus campedris) appears to be a better 
tree for cities and smoky villages than our native elms. It will 
grow on dryer ground and endure a greater degree of drouth. 

^CHAPTER XII. 

HEDGES, SCREENS, AND SHELTER-BELTS. 

Hedges and Screens. 

510. A hedge is a living fence, generally planted with some thorny 
tree or shrub, and strong enough to prevent the passing of domestic 
animals. A screen is more frequently a closely planted wall of ver- 
dure, generally of some evergreen tree, intended to conceal some 
unsightly object, or to afford shelter from the winds and protection 
to gardens, nurseries, orchards, stock-yards, or buildings. They 
may both be classed among ornamental plantations, and either of 
them may perform the offices of both. 

511. In no line cf planting will there be found so great a variety 
of opinions with regard to the kinds that should be planted, and aa 



128 Hedges and Screens, 

to tlie time and nianDer of planting, and after-treatment, as we find 
with respect to hedges. Perhaps every one of those that have been 
confidently recommended might be entitled to preference in some 
particular localities, and it is certain that none have a general adapt- 
ation to all parts of the country. 

512. It is therefore necessary to well consider the conditions of a 
given locality, as to its soil and climate, before making considerable 
investments in any one kind, until its fitness has been proved. In 
doubtfid cases, and in a new-settled region, it would be well to ex- 
periment in a small way with several kinds, and if they fail, the 
loss will n(jt be much ; while if they succeed, the result may lead 
to a wide-spread benefit. 

513. We will first present a list of the species that have been 
successfully used for hedges and screens, and afterwards state some 
of the principles that apply in their planting and management : 

Coniferous ever greem : Chiefly the spruces, cedars, and junipers, 
viz. : 

Norway spruce (Plcea exceha). 

Black and white spruces (P. nigra and P. alba). 

Hemlock (Ttrnga Canadensis). 

White cedar (Thnja occidentalis). 

Chinese cedar {Thuja orlentalis). 

California white cedar (Libocedrus decurrens). 

Red cedar {Jiiniperus Virginiana). 

Common juniper (Juniper as communis). 

514. These are cliiefly useftd for screens, and should all of them 
be started in nurseries. They should be set in spring, upon ground 
previously well prepared, and with the slightest possible exposure of 
the roots to the air, and they should be well watered. In a dry 
climate, they should have some protection on the south side, and it 
might be well to provide a shelter by planting some quick-growing 
trees parallel with the line of the proposed screen, two or three years 
previous, to be taken away when no longer needed. 

515. An evergreen screen can be best made to thicken up by pinch- 
ing or clii)ping off the ends of the branches. Tiio terminal shoots 
should be allowed to grow to the height of the proposed screen with- 
out disturbance, and then it may be checked. For an effectual 
screen there should be two parallel rows of trees, in which case most 
of the branches will strike out, on each side, towards the light. 



Hedges and Screens. 129 

They may be set from one to three feet apart in the rows, and those 
in one row opposite the spares in the other, as follows : 

y^ •^ *^ *T^ ?f* *'P ^p -T^ 

*y* •^ yf^ yft 5JC ^, yft ?jC 

516. In a cool, humid climate, the hemlock makes a beautiful 
hedge. It can often be transplanted from the woods, and it should 
be set in double rows, to produce the finest effect. 

517. For the dryer climate of Iowa and the region west of the 
Missouri, the native red cedar is preferable to all others, and about 
the only kind of evergreen that can be grown for a hedge with much 
certainty. 

518. For the Southern States, some species not coniferous, such as 
the tamarisk (Tamarix), the Spanish bayonet (Yucca aloeifoUa\ the 
Cherokee rose (Bosa Icevigata), various species of the cactus, and other 
plants may be employed to great advantage. The native thorny 
and ornamental shrubbery of that region affords many evergreens 
not conifers that would be available for this use, and it would be 
advisable to select such as are best known to be suitable for the soil 
and conditions, and that are proved to be hardy. 

519. For the Northern and Middle States, the following (chiefly 
deciduous) have been found successful in various localities : 

Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathacticus) . 

Crab-apple (Pyrus coronaria). 

English Hawthorn (Cratcegiis oxycanthus) . 

Native thorny trees (Cratcegus, various species). 

Privet (Ligustrum vulgare). 

Honey -locust (Gleditschia tricanthos.') 

Holly (Ilex opaca). 

Osage orange (Machira aiirantiaca) . 

520. For the more northerly parts of the North-western States, 
the w'hite or gray willow has been used with great success. For the 
more arid regions further west, the mesquit (Algorobis glandidosa), 
the buffalo berry (Shepherdia eleagnoides) , and the Caragana may be 
tried with advantage. 

521. Of all these, where the climate will permit, the osage orange, 
a native of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and the Indian Territory, 
has the most decided preference, and the methods of its planting and 
management are as follows : 

522. The seeds should be procured fresh from their native locali- 



130 Hedges and Screens. 

ties, where their preparation for market now forms a regular business. 
The fruit is collected and rotted, and the seeds washed out and dried. 
They should not be dark-colored, nor moldy, but bright, and will 
w^eigh about 35 pounds to the bushel. They are best if grown 
the year previous, and sliould not be more than two years old. 

523. It is usually better to obtain the plants from those who make 
a business of raising them for the market. They are started from 
the seed by first pouring on very w'arm, and almost scalding hot 
water, draining off' the surplus, covering, and allowing them to lie 
(being frequently stirred) till they are swollen and ready to sprout. 
They are then at once planted by hand, or by machine, in rows 
about 18 to 24 inches apart, a;nd cultivated to keep down the weeds. 
Late in the fall they should be mowed down, and the roots, after 
being loosened up by plowing, should be picked out, assorted, tied 
into bunches, and buried in dry trenches or kept in a cellar till 
spring. 

524. Having previously prepared the ground along the line of the 
hedge, by thorough plowing and cultivation, mark the lines with a 
cord, and set the plants with a sj^ade, dibble, or trowel, about two 
inches deeper than they grew before, and in rows from 8 to 12 or 15 
inches apart, the richer soil requiring a wider distance between. 

525. For a strong hedge, it is sometimes w'ell to set two rows, as 
already described. These roAvs may be from 6 to 9 inches apart. 

526. To secure an effectual hedge, two methods are employed. 
The first and best one is to obtain a broad and dense base, by cut- 
ting back, but allowing the plants to stand upright ; in the other, 
they are allowed to grow high at first, but are then bent down, in- 
terwoven and confined in a sloping or horizontal position. 

527. It is not usual to prepare a bank and ditch, as is prescribed 
in many English books upon hedge-making, but across wet grounds, 
it would be advisable to do so. 

528. The care required the first year, is to keep the ground mel- 
low and free of weeds, and in very dry times it may be advisable 
to })rotect the plants by mulching. If the object be to secure a 
dense upright growth, the plants should be mowed off close, in the 
spring of the second year, vacant places should be filled up, and 
the cultivation continued. In mid-summer, the upright stems 
should be cut back to within four or five inches of the ground, leav- 
ing those that spread out laterally. If the growth is still vigorous 



Hedges and Screens. 131 

they may be again cut back at the top, but not so low as before. 
In the third year, the cutting back at the top is renewed, but higher 
up, and under flivorable conditions the hedge is now broad and 
very dense near the ground. Tlie subsequent care consists in keep- 
ing the hedge trininied to a convex curve on eacii side, and if the 
roots appear to spread too far, they may be kept back by cutting 
them off with a sharp coulter attached to the beam of a plow, and 
drawn along on each side, as near as a team can be driven. 

529. There are quite a number of patents issued for bending 
down, interweaving with wires, confining by hooks and by stakes, 
and the like, which can not be easily described without a greater 
space than the limits of this article allow. In some of these, the 
stems are partly cut off, and then bent down and confined. In some, 
the branches are interwoven in lattice form. The most convenient 
tool for handling the plants (which are covered with cruel thorns), 
has a strong iron head, consisting of two prongs, like the tines of a 
fork, one of which is straight, and the other recurved, and firmly 
fixed in a long handle. This instrument can be used both for push- 
ing and pulling, and by its aid, two men, one upon each side, can 
bring the stems into place without difficulty. 

530. All hedges have the disadvantage of impoverishing the soil 
adjacent, to a perceptable degree; and the honey locust, the poplars, 
and the willows, have a tendency to send out tracing roots into the 
adjacent plowed lands, and there sprout where they are not wanted. 
The osage orange does not generally show this tendency, and this 
fact has been mentioned as a motive in its favor. It has, however, 
a somewhat tender habit, and when planted beyond its proper 
limits, it is very liable to be killed back or killed altogether by a cold 
winter. 

531. Its northern limit can not be described with certainty. 
Being a native of a mild climate, it is not readily grown in a cold 
one, and perhaps it would be safer not to depend upon it in Iowa, or 
further west in the same latitude. As the young shoots do not 
ripen well, they are apt to be killed every year by the frost, and 
they can hardly long survive these repeated injuries. 

532. Among the enemies that a young hedge of osage orange is 
exposed to, in the more Western States, is the gopher, a burrowing 
rodent, that will follow a lino of hedge many rods, and destroy the 
roots. They may be killed off by poisoning. A fire, if allowed to 



132 Hedges and Screens : Shelter- Belts. 

get in among the dry materials that lodge in a hedge, Avill be sure to 
kill it, and the strictest care should be taken to prevent this accident. 
583. In very poor soil, a trench may be dug along the line of an 
intended hedge, and filled in with the more fertile soil of the adja- 
cent surface, or elsewhere. It should be heaped above the former 
level, to allow for settling. 

Shelter-Belts. 

534. As their name implies, these are belts of woodland, primarily 
intended to protect the fields or places adjacent to them from the 
winds, and to equalize to some extent the temperature and humidity 
of a country, by mitigating the extremes of heat and cold, and by 
lessening the effects of drouth. They are of special benefit to fruit 
culture, and when planted around an orchard, in a dry climate, 
they tend to maintain a uniform and increased yield, the effect of 
which is often made apparent by comparisons with the barrenness 
and failure of orchards not thus protected. 

535. Their effect in diminishing the damages that occasionally 
happen from grasshoppers, and other insects, is well proved ; and 
by favoring the breeding of insectivorous birds, they further pro- 
mote the destruction of the enemies of our fruit and field crops. 

536. Their direct influence upon pasturage and meadows is seen 
in the fresh green color of the herbage, and its perceptibly larger 
growth. They have been known to double the yield of grain in 
fields surrounded by them, by preventing injuries to which open 
and naked fields are exposed. 

537. In snowy countries, an important effect is secured in their 
preventing the drifting of snows, which cover the surface longer 
and melt away more slowly. The water will settle into the ground, 
and the soil remain moist for a longer period than in broad open 
fields. Their immediate shelter to gardens, buildings, and stock 
vards, and the cheerful and pleasant aspect that they impart to a 
country, are obvious. 

538. A shelter-belt should be planted more closely than would be 
advantageous in a forest, and as the outside gets more air and light, 
the trees along the borders will be more thrifty than those in the in- 
terior. It should be not less than four rods in width, but ten rods 
would be better. For full benefit, they should not be more than a 
quarter of a mile apart. 



Shelter- Belts, 133 

539. As our public lands were all surveyed in lines running north 
and south, and at right angles to this course, these directions form 
the natural ones for the subdivisions of farms. The act for encour- 
agement of tree-planting in Nebraska affords certain premiums for 
trees, if planted in belts running east and west, which implies that 
they are there thought to afford most protection against winds from 
the north or south. In summer, we have most to dread from the lat- 
ter, and in winter from the former. In a region where such belts 
are on every farm, the one that shelters from the north affords a 
southern protection to the lands adjacent, and both farms are 
benefited. 

540. In an east and west belt, the south side being most exposed 
to the sun, should be planted by kinds that suffer least from heat 
and drouth, and that in a dry region afford the most shade. The 
north side of such a belt will be the most favorable for a double belt 
of evergreens, which will thrive in such a place, if they can be 
made to grow anywhere, and which by their close evergreen foliage 
will give the belt more decided effect as a shelter against the hot and 
dry winds of summer, and the sweeping storms from the north iu 
winter. 

541. There are some careful observers who express decided joref- 
erence for a shelter-belt running north and south. In this direction, 
both sides are exposed an equal number of hours to the sun, but the 
west side receives more heat, as being in the sunshine in the hottest 
part of the day. In such a belt, a line of evergreens would do best 
in the middle, or a little nearer the east side, if not overshaded by 
other trees. 

542. It is our decided opinion that belts would prove of greatest 
benefit to agriculture, if planted iu both directions, and if this cus- 
tom were generally adopted in a prairie country, farms would pro- 
tect one another against injurious winds from any direction, and if 
in sufficient proportion, the humidity of the climate would be per- 
ceptibly increased, and the tendency to drouth lessened. 

543. The planting of a shelter-belt does not materially differ from 
that elsewhere described for groves. The soil should be cultivated 
a year or two before, to thoroughly decompose the sod, and the 
seeds, cuttings, or young plants should be set in quincunx rows, 
and be kept clear of grass and weeds till they shade the ground. 
They must be protected from stock of all kinds until beyond their 



134 Shelter- Belts: Planting along Railroads. 

reach or power of Injury, when they may be used for their sLelter 
in Av inter. 

5J4. The inside rows may be planted with black walnut, oak, ca- 
talpa, ash, or other kinds of most value for timber ; and when a 
belt becomes old and thin, it would be better to cut it off, after 
starting a new one under its shelter. The ground fertilized by the 
decay of leaves for many years might be broken up and cultivated 
for a time with great advantage. In older countries, the rules of 
rotation in the culture of timber and of farm crops have been set- 
tled by long practice, and the advantages from this are well under- 
stood ; but in our country they are as yet unappreciated, and to a 
great degree unknown. 

545. For a narrow, but effectual wind-break, a double row of 
Scotch OT white pine, in rows eight or ten feet apart, and at about 
the same distance between the trees in the rows, will form, in six 
or eight years, in a climate where they can be grown, a close and 
effectual screen. 

Protection of Railroad Citts from Drifting Snows hy Tree- Planting. 

546. In no form of planting do shelter-belts show greater benefits 
than along the deep cuts of railroads, in an open country liable to 
deep snows. They should be planted, in these cases, upon both 
sides of the road, but wider on that exposed to the most wind, 
which will generally be the north or west sides. 

547. In preparing the soil for this planting upon new jDrairies, it 
should be broken up in June, in strips a rod and a half to two 
rods wide, parallel with the line of road and about seventy-five or 
eighty feet from the center. The ground should be back-set by 
plowing deeper in September or October, and again as deep as prac- 
ticable as early in the spring following as may be. Immediately 
after plowing, the ground should be harrowed, and set with cuttings, 
or planted with seedlings, in lines from four to six feet apart, and 
about a foot apart in the rows. In general, there should be four to 
six rows on the side most exposed, and not less than three (but 
better more) on the other side. 

548. In places particularly exposed to oblique winds along the 
valleys, the plantation might widen out to advantage, forming a 
grove of some extent. The kinds most certain in northern and 
snowy region are the cottonwoods and willows. Where the soil and 



Planting along Bailroads. 135 

climate favor, the evergreens, and especially the white and red ce- 
dars, the Scotch pine and the Norway or black spruce are most ef- 
fectual. They should be started in nurseries in all cases, as ever- 
greens require more care at first. 

549. When planted or set, the rows must be thoroughly culti- 
vated by Stirling the ground with a cultivator or by hand-hoeing 
until the trees appear to need it no longer. For the first and second 
years a double cultivator may be used, if care is taken to protect 
the row between with cloths under the forward part. If bent down, 
the trees will straighten up, and if not broken, or the bark torn, they 
will not be injured. Plantations thus set will need thinning as they 
become well started, and will require protection against cattle and 
against fires. 

550. For the prevention of injury from prairie fires, lines of fresh 
earth should be formed outside near the trees, and at a distance 
of one or two hundred feet parallel with them, by plowing two or 
three furrows, and burning off the space between in a still time, 
and as early in the fall as fire can be made to spread. The grass 
between the belts, along the track, should in this manner be also 
cleared oW every fall, and by these precautions the chances of acci- 
dent from fire would be almost wholly removed. 

551. In the i^orth-western States, the planting time lasts about 
a month, and ends about the middle or twentieth of May. It be- 
gins again in October, from the tenth to the fifteenth, and lasts till 
freezing weather. Farther south, the spring planting begins earlier 
and the fall planting later, and both will vary in different years. 

552. Much success has attended the planting of trees alono- the 
sides of railroad cuts, to prevent the drifting of snows in the winter 
in lines crossing the steppes of Kussia. The first of these experi- 
ments was begun in the spring of 1876, near Nikitooka, on the 
Kursk-Kharkoff-Azov Eailroad, about 1,000 feet above the sea, in a 
region that was treeless, and utterly unpromising. It was in fact 
selected with the view of securing a strong argument in favor of 
the measure, in case the trees could be made a success. Towards 
the end of March, a strip of land was broken up, and afterwards 
sub-soiled and harrowed. On the 10th of April, the season being 
well advanced, over 100,000 trees and shrubs were set from nurse- 
ries, in 7 rows, about G feet apart, and 6 feet between trees in each 
row, the nearest one being 84 feet from the track. The kinds set 



13G Planting along Railroads. 

wero the hawthoru (Cratcegiis oxycantha) furtherest from the track; 
next the elms ( Ulnmseffusa aud U. suberosa), the maple (Ascer tartari- 
cuin), locust (Bobinia j^seiidacacia) , the Caragona arborescens, and last, 
towards the track, another row of hawthorn. There was no heap- 
ing up of the earth around the roots, but the soil was beaten down 
level aud smooth. The hawthorn lost its leaves, but it budded 
again, aud came on in good healthy condition, and proved a great 
success. The loss was not over one per cent, chiefly the locust, 
which had been planted too deep. The Ulmus snberosa was found 
the most hardy. The plantation was cultivated by hand-hoeing and 
with horse-cultivators. 

553. In August, when the dry season came, and almost all the 
vegetation of the steppe was dried up, and the ground completely 
covered with cracks, the soil in this plantation remained moist, 
and could be rolled into balls. At the end of the season some of 
the trees were taken out, and it was found that the roots had grown 
from two to four feet, and were well provided with fibers. 

554. In establishing a nursery fjr supplying the trees used for 
this work, the ground was surrounded by rows of trees (maples, 
elms, and caragana), and the seed when sown were well watered, 
aud the ground covered with straw until the plants began to ap- 
pear. Tliis litter was then gradually removed, and laid in the paths 
between the seed-beds, in order to keep the moisture as much as pos- 
sible iu the soil. It v.as still found necessary to water the plants in 
the beds, until they had got well started. By the end of summer 
the locusts had made a growth of from 6 to 18 inches, aud the others 
averaged 10 inches. The so-called autumnal sowings began in Au- 
gust, and was continued up to the middle of December, and all of 
them were covered carefully with straw. 

555. It is found on the steppes that successful planting depends 
upon thorough cultivation and deep sub-soil plowing. The example 
of the railroads is being followed by many of the farmers who have 
witnessed the result, and who had been strongly prejudiced against 
any attempts at planting, believing that it could not succeed. 

556. Upon other lines of railroad extensive plantations have been 
commenced, the usual number of rows being seven, and the series 
adopted upon one of them being as follows, counting outward from 
the track, viz. : Caragana arborescen"^ Robinia j^seicdacacia, Ulmus 
suberosaj Acer tartaricum, Robinia pseudacacia, Acer tartaricum, Ulmus 



Cutting and Seasoning of Wood. 137 

suherosa mixed with the locust, and the last two rows the Caragana 
alone. lu one case plants were taken too old, and the drouth and 
cattle caused the destruction of 25 per cent. In another case it was 
21 per cent, and in another some of the pines were planted, but 
with poor success. The general results are, however, deemed satis- 
factory, and in many cases the loss did not exceed eight per cent. 
In all of these plantations, the seeds were sown in local nurseries 
along the lines of the roads, and the transplanting is done before the 
trees become of much size. The preparation of the soil is deep and 
thorough, and its subsequent cultivation carefully kept up. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

CUTTING AND SEASONING OF WOOD ; DEFECTS IN TIMBER. 

Tlie jjrojjer Time for Cutting Timber. 

557. As a general rule, timber cut in the season when vegetation 
is suspended, or in deciduous species, when the leaves are off and 
the growth of the year is ended, lasts longer and seasons more readily 
than when cut in the season of active growth, and when the tree is 
full of sap. In the winter season it is found that there are stored 
up in the interior cells, the elements that are to serve for the first 
growth of the next season, such as starch, etc. This is proved by 
applying chemical tests, such as solutions of iodine, which will color 
the medullary rays of winter-cut wood, in thin sections, with a 
deeper violet-tinge than in wood cut in spring or early summer. 
In cases wdiere the wood is to be peeled, the timber can only be cut 
in early summer. Hoop-poles should never be cut when the bark 
will peel, as their utility and value are lessened. 

558. Summer has, from time immemorial, been the favorite 
season for cutting coniferous timber in the Vosges of Eastern 
France. Perhaj^s one great advantage in this, results from the fact 
that if can be peeled at that season, and thus saved from the injuries 
that are very likely to occur from the attack of bark-boring insects. 
All timber that is to be peeled, must be cut in the early part of 
summer. It will then season more readily than it could if the bark 
had been left on. Coniferous woods will generally remain white, 
and the lumber will be lighter in weight. There are, indeed, certain 
advantages to be gained by summer cutting, which have led an ap- 



138 Cutting and Seasoning of Wood. 

proved French writer^ to remarlv as follows : " The result of this ex- 
perieuce has a tendency to contradict the received opinion relative to 
the time of cutting the deciduous woods, aud seems also to afford 
an argument in favor of cutting these trees in summer, after the 
movements of the sap has ceased— if not with respect to their 
calorific properties, at least in favor of their durability. But it 
would be imprudent to give a positive opinion upon this point until 
the facts have been accurately ascertained by numerous exact aud 
comparable experiments, and until this has been done, it would be 
safer to follow the old rules. It is, furthermore, probable that the 
difference is chiefly shown in the more or less complete maturity of 
the sap-wood, and that it is greater in that part." It appears, there- 
fore, that the question as to the proper season for cutting can not be 
regarded as settled, until more carefully settled by observation. 

559. It may be of some historical interest, but probably of not 
much practical importance, to notice the superstitions that have pre- 
vailed, and which are still observed, with respect to the effect of the 
moon's age at the time that trees are felled. It is traced in the writings 
of the ancients and is mentioned by Columella, Cato, Vitruvius, and 
Pliny. The first Napoleon directed that the time for felling naval 
timber should be " in the wane of the moon, from November 1st to 
March 15th." The wood-cutters in some countries act in accordance 
with this belief. 

560. It is laid down as a precept by Behlen,^ that "all build- 
ing timber must be felled two or three days before or after the new 
moon, and in a dry time, and oak timber always at the new moon," 
and adds, that the timber cut at that time has greater durability. 
He gives nearly two pages of precepts, extending to particular days 
of the week in connection with the moon's age, and varying some- 
what in different seasons of the year. We deem these rules as quite 
without reason, and can see no other effect from the moon's presence 
or absence than that due to a moderate amount of light without 
heat. 

The Seasoning of Woods. 

561. Wood when newly cut, contains from thirty-seven to forty- 
eight per cent of water, depending upon the kind, age, and the season 

1 H. Nanquette, late Director of the School of Forestry, at Nancy, France. 

2 Real-und Verbal- Lexicon, der Frost und Jagdhiinde. — iv. G76. 



Seasoning of Wood. 



139 



of vegetation, the older wood being generally heavier than the 
young, and the weight greater in the active, rather than the dor- 
mant season. 

562. This water is not chemically united, and a part of it is given 
out when exposed to the air. But at a certain point it ceases to be- 
come lighter, and after that it gains or looses in weight, as the 
temperature and moisture of the atmosphere vary. The following 
ta])le shows the changes, in percentage of weight, that occur with 
some kinds of woods by seasoning : 

Percentage in weight of Water in Woods, at different ^periods after 

Cutting. 



Kinds of Wood. 


Round 


Wood fhom Branches. 


Round Wood from ^ 
Trees. 


'OUNG 


G mo. 


1 year. 


18 mo. 


1 
2 years. 


G mo. 


1 year. 


18 mo. 


2 years. 


Beech . 

Oak 

Hornbeam 

Birch 

Pophir 


.S3.48 
ni.20 
31. as 
?,-.?A 
8069 
2S 29 
P.5.30 


24.00 
2t;.90 
25. '^9 
2S 90 
2fi.0l 
17.14 
17.r)9 


19. SO 
24.55 
22.33 
24.12 
21.85 
15.09 
15.72 


2n..",2 

21.(9 
19.30 
21 78 
19.44 
18 TG 
17.39 


30.44 
32.71 
27.19 
39.72 
40.45 
33.78 
41.49 


23. -IG 
2(;.74 
2:i.()8 
29.01 
2G.22 
1G.87 
18.67 


IS. GO 
23.. ^5 
20. GO 
22.73 
17.77 
15.21 
15. G3 


19.95 
20.28 
18.59 
19.52 
17.92 


Fir 

Pine 


18.09 
17.42 



563. It appears from this table, that there is generally nothing 
gained, but something lost in keeping woods any longer than eigliteen 
months, as some of them, such as the beech, fir and pine, become 
damp rather than dry by longer keeping, and the others gain in 
dryness but feebly after that time. Mr. Marcus Bull, in his experi- 
ments upon the properties of woods, many years since, ascertained 
that wood, after being perfectly dried, when exposed in a room 
without fire for a year, absorbed on an average, of 46 kinds, 
10 per cent of their weight, in common states of the weather, and 
8 per cent in the dry. A coincidence was noticed in the weight 
of charcoal from these woods similarly exposed. The amount of 
moisture absorbed was not found to diminish with their increase of 
density, v/hile green woods in drying lost uniformly less in weight, 
according as their density wars greater. Hickory, from green to ab- 
solutely dry, lost 37J per cent; white oak, 41; and maple, 48. 
Assuming the general average at 42 per cent, we have a striking 
illustration of the economy in freight, betw^een the carrying of wood 
green or dry, and in burniiig wood before or after seasoning. 



140 Seasoning of Wood, 

564. Wood that has been floated will season sooner and become 
lighter than that which has not. By long exposure in the water, 
with repeated drying, wood becomes extremely light, as we often 
sec in flood-wood. 

b^o. For seasoning to best advantage, wood should be piled in the 
open fields, rather than in the woods, and it is customary in many parts 
of Europe to lay some pieces lengthwise of the pile, well braced at the 
outer end, and meeting at an obtuse angle in the middle. These aiford 
a kind of arch, open at the bottom for the air to circulate under the 
piles. Where fire-wood is piled in quantities for seasoning, there 
should be intervals between the piles, in order to give access to the 
air within. 

566. Coniferous wood will season quicker if left with the branches 
on until the leaves fall off, as they seem to evaporate the moisture 
from the wood. Trees felled towards the north are more exposed 
to the sun, and season sooner than in other positions. 

567. The seasoning of lumber is sometimes hastened by artificial 
heat, but in this case provision must be made for ventilation, or the 
vapor must be condensed by the circulation of cold water through 
upright pipes placed within the apartment.^ 

568. Oak timber is sometimes very effectually seasoned by being 
peeled while st'U standing, and left for several mouths before cutting. 
Tills was remarked by Vitruvius, a Roman architect. It was tried 
by Duhamel, in the preparation of ship-timber, and he explained 
the result by saying that although such trees may live for a time 
after peeling, they can not form new layers of wood, and that the 
growth due to a new dej)osit of wood was carried into the cellular 
tissues of the sap wood, and perhaps the heart wood, rendering it 
heavier and stronger, but more liable to crack. This method is 
expensive, and is now scarcely ever used. 

569. The seasoning of wood is always hastened by taking off 
the bark, and in the case of willow, cottonwood, and some 
other kinds, it tends to harden the wood and increase its durabil- 
ity. As a general rulp, all i-ailroad ties, telegraph poles, and posts 
last longer when peeled, and no timber or lumber should be used in 
constructions of any kind before seasoning, unless in places where 
the air has full access. 

^ Geo. Wood's patent. 



Seasoning of Wood, 



141 




570. Seasoning tends to secure the durability of wood not ex- 
posed to the weathei', or in contact with tlie earth, or with damj) 
walls, if sufficient ventilation is allowed. The presence of moisture, 
and especially cf the starch, sugar, and albumen of the saj^ in wood, 
tends to hasten fermentation and decay. If these are partly dis- 
solved out by placing the freshly cut timber in running water, it 
drys more readily. Seasoning by smoking has the effect of increas- 
ing the durability of wood, by cliarging it with creosote, but this is 
corrosive to iron, and should not be used in contact with it. 

571. In the process of seasoning, wood tends to shrink, from the 
contraction of the tissues as they become dry. 
As there is more moisture and less wood fiber 
in the outer layers, the contraction is greatest 
toward the outside, as shown in the annexed 
engraving. Tlie process takes place more 
slowly, and with less cracking in winter. It is 
still further improved by delaying the drying, 
which may be done by placing in the shade, '^.^^^f^^L^ber!"hmf:ng 

where the air circulates freely between the t^'^ ^'i^'i^kage' greatest 

J 111 the outer Wood. 

pieces, but it should not be exposed to the dry- 
ing winds. 

572. It is desirable to prevent the cracking of timber at the ends, 
by which means a loss is suffered in the more valuable kinds. This 
may be prevented in a great degree, by pasting heavy j^aper over 
the end, or by painting or washing with diluted muriatic acid, neu- 
tralized with lime. 

573. If there be nothing at hand better, the timbers may be lightly 
shaded from the sun by branches of trees or 
any other slight covering, where it is desirable 
to prevent deep crevices from being formed. 
Shrinkage tends to distort timber that is dressed 
green, as shown in the annexed cut, and un- 
less the center of growth is in the center of 
the piece, it will need to be dressed over again 
to secure a true form. Boards and plank when 69. Teiuicnoy to pistor- 

. -n r .^ • J.^ . tiou of Siinare Timber 

cut green will Avarp irom this cause, the contrac- by shrinkage. 

tion being strongest en the side fur- 

therest from the center of growth, and 

least in the direction of the medul- 

1 , ^ , 70. Tendency to Warp by Contraction 

iary rays. nearest the Outside of the Tree. 





142 



Seasoning of Wood : Strength of Timber. 



574. Wood cut ill plraies radiating, from the center can not Avarp. 
When sawn into this form, there is a waste from a feather-edge 
on one side, and from extra thickness on the other, bat the silver- 
grain is brought out Avith great beauty in some species by this mode 
of cutting:, and for some uses it mav be preferable. When wood 
is to be used as the foundation for veneering, it should be cut as 
near as may be in the direction of the medullary rays, and it must 
be thoroughly seasoned. 

575. English shipwrights generally consider that three years are 
required to season large timbers. They are usually cut to shape a 
year before they are framed, and then left another year in the 
skeleton before being planked.^ All wood used in carving requires 
the most careful and thorough seasoning. 

576. Hard-woods season more slowly than those of light open 
grain. They may often be cut to nearly the shapes required for 
use before being put away to dry, and should be piled open with spaces 
for the air to circulate between the pieces. It may be desirable to 
pile them over again, from time to time, so as to expose the parts at 
first in contact. 

The Strength of Timber, with respect to its Form, and to the Lines of 

Growth. 

577. The strength of the timber when used in horizontal pieces 
depends upon its form, and upon the manner in which it is cut, 
with reference to the layers of annual growth. If laid flatwise, 





71. Proper Mode of yilacin^ a 
Plank to secure Durability 
and Strength. 



72. Improper Mode of placins? a Plank 
to secure Durability and Strentrth. 



with the layers convex on the upper side, they act as an arch, and 
tend to give it strength. If the same \)\qqq were laid edgew^ise, 
like a joist, it would be much stronger than if the lines of growth 
were transverse, and wlien such pieces break from over-loading, the 
crack is more apt to be between, than across, these layers of growth. 



^B7'iito7i on ihc Dry Rot, p. G8. 



Defects of Timber, 



143 




Ileuil-Shake. 



If, on the contrary, a plank be laid flatwise, with the hollow of the 
grain up, the pressure of whatever weight is applied, will be on the 
inside of the arch, and if exposed to moisture, the water will teud 
to settle between the layers of growth, and thus hasten its decay. 
These principles find application in the laying of planks in side- 
walks, bridges, platforms, the floors of warehouses, and the like. 

Defects of Timber from Various Causes. 

578. Timber is liable to acquire certain defects from old age, 
shrinkage in seasoning, or other causes, 
that more or less injure its quality for 
strength, and its value for use, when 
sawn into lumber. One of these is the 
" heart-shake," perhaps most frequently 
seen in old timber, and caused by the 
contraction of the inner portions of the 
tree, as the first symptom of decay. 

579. The "star-shake" consists of a 
similar contraction, but often Avider to- 
wards the outside, as seen in young tim- 
ber wdien exposed to rapid drying after 
being cut green. It, however, is often 
seen in the tree before cutting, and some- 
times a bulge on the outside of the tree 
shows where these cracks come to the 
surface. 

580. The "cup-shake" is a separation 
between the rings of growth, more fre- 
quently found near the roots of the tree. 
It may be caused by a sudden change of 
temperature, frosts, storms, or other 
causes, and in some cases it extends 
through the Avhole length of the tree, es- 
pecially if the ring of separation is com- 
plete at the base. If only a segment is 
separate, it does not usually extend far 
up. Again, there are various combina- 
tions of these defects that may impair the 
value ot tmiber, against which there is binU 




75. Cup-Shake. 




144 Defects of Timber. — Qualities desirable in Fuel. 

uo known prevention, and in many cases there are no means of 
knowing their presence until the tree is cut. So far as caused or 
increased by rapid seasoning, they may be prevented by cutting 
only in the season Avlien vegetation is dormant, and by drying 
slowly in the shade. 

581. Wherever the bark becomes loose on a tree, to that extent 
the wood looses its vitality under it, and it can only be healed by 
the o:rowing over of the wood from the side. These accidents may 
be caused by external injuries, scorching from fires, sun-scalds, or 
frost when the wood is full of sap. When the wood from opposite 
sides meets over such a place, it will in two or tliree years consoli- 
date entirely, and form continuous layers over it, but the dead 
wood within, if not previously decayed, remains unchanged. These 
bare spots should be covered over with coal-tar or paint, if the tree 
is valuable, but if there are decayed places these should first be 
cleaned out, and the surface should be dry when the tar or paint is 
applied. 

582. In some cases wood in the first stages of decay shows a 
change of color, before its strength or texture is impaired, as in 
some species of the pine. It will generally be stopped by drying, 
and may not affect its value. The tint of wood is in a great de- 
gree influenced by the nature of the soil upon wdiich it has grown. 
The larch and the fir on a dry, level, and deep sandy soil, are often 
of a sliglitly reddish tinge, w4iile in other situations they are nearly 
white. It is prv)bably from some chemical differences in the soil 
that mahogany and other tropical woods of the same species are of 
deeper shades of color in some localities than in others. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FUEL — CHARCOAL— WOOD-GAS. 

The Qualities desirable in Wood for Fuel. 

583. The best qualities of wood for fuel are found when it burns 
easily and uniformly — neither too fast nor too slow — and when, in 
a given volume, it gives the greatest amount of heat. These qual- 
ities are found in highest degree at full maturity, and before decline. 
In coppice-woods, grown from the sprouts, this quality is reached 
sooner than 'from seed, and in those from old stocks sooner than 



Qualities desirable in Furl — Charcoal. 145 

from the younger ones, the period ranging from 25 to 40 years. If 
we wish wood for burning only, the coppice is more profitable than 
full-grown timber, although, in a given quantity of best fire-wood 
from each, a cord of the latter would be worth the most. 

584. But, for charcoal, the point of greatest excellence is almost 
readied in middle age, when the diflTerence is very small, between its 
excellence then and at full majority.^ 

585. In 1826, Marcus Bull, of Philadelphia, a gold-boater by 
profession, a member of the American Philosophical Society, and 
much interested in scientific studies, first published the results of 
experiments carefully made by him upon the heating and coaling 
qualities of many kinds, chiefly of native wood. They possess per- 
manent value, and may be concisely stated as in table on the fol- 
lowing page. 

586. It should be remembered that woods difl^er according to the 
soil, aspect, elevation, and other conditions under which they have 
been grown, and tliat allowance must be made for these difl^erences 
in ajjplying the above or any other statements. 

Charcoal. 

587. When wood is heated to about 530° (Fahr.), or above, the 
volatile parts pass off in the form of watery vapor, acetic acid, tar, 
etc., with certain uon-condensible gases, and there remains a fixed 
residue called charcoal. 

588. This substance is black, porous, brittle, and when struck, 
sonorous. It breaks with a glossy conchodial fracture, and wlien 
prepared at a low degree of heat, it retains the form and structure 
of the wood, but in reduced bulk. It is among the most inde- 
structible of substances when exposed to the open air, or in the 
ground, and for this reason billets of charcoal are buried in the soil, 
to mark the corners of sections and their subdivisions in our public 
land surveys.^ 

^ Karsten, cited by Loreniz S^ Parade, 5 ed., p. 443. In the oak, the propor- 
tion was 25.45 to 25.00; in the beech, 25.50 to 25.75; and in the hornbeam, 
24 90 to 26.10. 

^In visitinor the ruins of Herculaneum, in 188], we noticed the woodwork 
of doors and windows that had been charred by a lava-stream nearly two 
thousand years ago, in which the kind of wood could be determined, and 
even the form into which it had been wrouiiht. 



146 Marcus Bull's Table — Heating Qualities of Wood. 



Cmnparative Qualities and Values for Heating Purposes of different 

American Woods. 



1 


(ji 




•-C 


cw 


"-0 


^ 


W 


H 


"^ 






a 
a 


^1c 




o 
g 


o 




P 










P3 


e-h 


'^^a 






a & 

C c« 






• ft- 








O 


c-t- 






!3 Q 




"^ P S= 


crp 






CTQ 




• o o 


flu? 


o o 


(^2. 


P^O 


■d q-^ 


per; 






P 
< 


a. 


t-ft '^ 


a < 


^& 


o o 


o "^ 


O 5 - 
C CD c: 
5 p. o 




p 


Common names. 




^ 


^^ 






f^- 


-J P 


.^c'i^ 


X< 


c- 






o 


"< a 


i'"* 


'J3 


■-^o 


'< "5 


"<!•:-- 


>—z> 


rt 






o 


c 


o 


P'o 


' o 


o o 


n >— 










c ^ 

o ^: 


<-> 


"1 

o 
p 


O w, 
C -! 

piO 


o 

. '1 
o 


o ^ 


o ci> 

"-3 






O 

o 


o 


'< £ 






o 
ft 


p 


5 a> 


orejr-' 




















h. m 




1 


White Ash 


772 
697 
724 


3450 
3115 
8286 


25 74 
25 00 
19 62 


.547 
.445 
.518 


28 78 
28 41 
27 2() 


888 
779 
685 


31 
38 
28 


6 40 
6 40 
6 


77 


? 


Apple Tree 


70 


8 


White Beech 


65 


4 


Black Birch 


697 
580 
567 


311"i 
2369 
2534 


19.40 

19 00 

20 79 


.42« 
.364 
.287 


22 52 
19 15 
12 47 


604 
450 
527 


27 
24 
42 


6. 
6. 
6. 


63 


•s 


White Birch 


48 


fi 


Butternut 


51 


7 


Red Cedar 


565 
522 
597 

0.M5 


2525 
2388 
2<;68 
8643 


24.72 
25 29 
21 70 
21.00 


.288 
.379 
.411 
.550 


12 52 
19.94 
21.68 
28 94 


624 
590 
579 
765 


50 
30 
27 
26 


6 40 
6.40 
6 10 
6 10 


56 


s 


Chestnut 


52 


9 


Wild Cherry 


55 


10 


Dogwood 


75 


11 


White Kim 


U 580 


2592 


24.85 


.357 


18 79 


644 


34 


6 40 


58 


1?, 


Sour-Gum 


703 


3142 


22.16 


.400 


21 05 


696 


33 


6 20 


67 


13 
14 


Sweet-Gum 


634 

1 000 


2884 
4469 


19 69 
26 29 


.418 
.625 


21.78 
82 89 


558 
1172 


26 
36 


6. 
6 40 


57 


Shell-bark Hickory 


100 


35 


Pig-nut Hickory 


949 


4241 


25 22 


.687 


33.52 


1070 


32 


6.40 


95 


Ifi 


Red-heart Hickory 


829 


8705 


22 90 


.509 


26.78 


848 


32 


6.80 


81 


17 


Witch-Hazel 


784 
602 
720 
668 


8505 
2691 
3218 
2968 


21 40 

22.77 
19 00 
24 02 


.368 
.374 
.455 
.457 


19.36 
19 68 

23 94 

24 05 


750 
613 
611 
712 


39 
31 
2.5 
30 


6.10 
6 20 
6 
6 40 


72 


]S 


American Holly 


57 


19 




65 


?,(» 


Mountain Laurel 


66 


21 


Sugar Maple 


644 
597 


2878 
2668 


21 48 
20.64 


.481 

.370 


22 68 
19 47 


617 
551 


27 
28 


6 10 
6 


60 


?:> 


Soft Maple 


54 


2b' 


Lari^e Magnolia 


605 


2704 


21 59 


.4(!(; 


21 36 


684 


27 


6 10 


56 


24 


Che'stnut While-Oak 


885 


3655 


22 76 


.481 


25 81 


900 


S6 


6 30 


86 


9=, 


White Oak.. 


855 


3821 


21 62 


.401 


21 10 


826 


89 


6 20 


81 


2,6 


Shell-bark White Oak... 


775 


3464 


21 50 


.48,7 


22.99 


745 


32 


6 20 


74 


27 


Barren Scrub Oak 


747 


38;;9 


23 17 


.892 


20 68 


774 


38 


6.30 


73 


2S 


Pin Oak 


747 


8889 


22 22 


.48C) 


22.94 


742 


82 


6.20 


71 


2't 


Scrub Black Oak 


728 
728 
694 


3254 
8254 
3102 


28 80 
22 48 
22 87 


.387 
.4(1(1 
.447 


20 86 

21 05 
28 52 


774 

680 
694 


88 
30 
29 


6 30 
6.20 
6. 20 


71 


"II 


Red Oak 


69 


HI 


Barren Oak 


66 


8:? 


Rock Chestnut Oak 


(;7S 


8080 


20 8() 


.486 


22 94 


682 


28 


6. 


61 


;ti 


Yellow Oak 


65;; 
548 
711 
551 
478 
426 
418 


2919 
2449 
3178 
2468 
2187 
1904 
1868 


21 60 

22 95 
28 44 

23 75 

24 88 
26 76) 
24 85 


. 294 
.362 
.469 
.383 
.385 
.298 
.298 


15 52 
19.05 
24 68 
17.52 
20 26 
15.68 
15 42 


681 
562 
745 

585 
532 
510 
455 


41 
30 
30 
33 
26 
33 
30 


6 10 
6 20 
6 30 
6.30 
6 40 
6 40 
4 40 


60 


34 


Spanish Oak 


52 


St 


Persimmon 


69 


?fi 


Yellow Pine 


54 


•17 


Jersey Pine 


48 


8S 


Pitch Pine 


43 


8M 


White pine 


42 


40 


Yellow Poplar 


568 


2516 


21 81 


.888 


21 15 


549 


27 


6.10 


52 


41 


Lombardy Poplar. 


897 


1776 


25 00 


.245 


12 89 


444 


34 


6 40 


40 


42 


Sassafras 


618 


2762 


22.58 


.427 


22 47 


627 


28 


6 20 


59 


4S 


Wild Service 


887 
585 
681 
0752 


3964 

2891 
8044 
3361 


22 62 
28 60 
22 56 
23.30 


.594 
.374 
.418 
.505 


31 26 
19 68 
22 00 
26.57 


897 
564 
687 
783 


29 
29 
31 
29 


6 20 
6 30 
6 20 
6.30 


84 


44 


Sycamore 


52 


^'^ 


Black Walnut 


65 


46 


Whortleberry 


73 



3farci(s BtiWs Tabic — Charcoal. 



147 



Botanical Names of the foregoing hinds of Trees and Shrubs. 



1. Fraxinus Americana. 

2. Pyras mains. 

3. Fag as si/lcatica. 

4. Betula Irnta. 

6. Betula alba, var. popuU- 
folin. 

6. Juglans cinerea, 

7. Ja'niperns Virgininnn. 

8. Castanea vesca, va r.Ainer- 

icana. 

9. Cr rasas Virginiana. 

10. C'ormis Florida. 

11. Ulmns Americana. 

12. Ni/ssn malt/flora. 

13. Liquidambcr styracifiua. 

14. Caryn alba. 

15. Carya porcma. 



16. Carya . 

17. Hamamelis virginica. 

18. /Zeo; opaca. 

19. Cnrpinas Americana. 

20. Kalinia latifolia. 

21. ^cer saccharinum. 

22. ^cer rabrum. 

23 Magnolia grandiflora. 

24. Quercus prinus palustris. 

25. Quercus alba. 

16. Quercus obtusiloba. 

27. Quercus Cate.'fbaei. 

28. Quercus palustris. 

29. Quercus Banistcrii. 
>0. Quercus rubra. 

U. Quercus ferrvginea, 

32. Quercus prinos monticola. 



33. Quercus prinos acumin- 
ata. 

34. Quercus falcata. 

35. Diospyros Virginiana, 

36. Finns mitis. 

37. Finns inops, 

38. Piuus rigida, 
:i9. Pin us st'robus. 

10. Liriodendron tulipifera. 

11. Populus dilatata. 

42. Sassafras officinale. 

43. Amelnnchier Canadensis, 

44. ^r'er pseudn-platanus. 

45. Juglans nigra. 

46. Vaccinium corymbosum. 



589. Charcoal is a slow conductor of heat and a non-conductor 
of electricity. When exposed to the most intense heat, without ac- 
cess of air, it remains unchanged, but it burns freely without flame 
or smoke in the open air, leaving as ashes a part of the mineral 
constituents of the wood from which it was made. 

590. It absorbs and holds moisture with great readiness, and Is 
an active absorbent of gases. It will take up many times its bulk, 
but this amount is much greater with some gases than others.^ It is 
for this reason a most valuable disinfectant, and a material for filters. 

591. The chief use, however, of charcoal is as a fuel in smeltiuo- 

o 

ores, and in forges, furnaces, and other metallurgical operations, 
and for these uses immense quantities of wood are annually re- 
quired. 

592. The wood for charcoal should be cut only in winter, and it 
is generally piled for partial seasoning till the next autumn. It is 
found, as is shown elsewhere under the head of " seasoninir," that 
wood acquires its greatest dryness in abjut eighteen months, but 
practically a single summer's drying is found sufficient. 

593. There are several modes of charring Avood in use, but by 
far the most common one is that in " meilers" or *' coal-pits." Fur 

^DeSaussure found that boxwood charcoal would absorb 00 times its 
bulk of ammotiia, 55 times of sulphuretted h3-drogen, 1)5 times of c;irbouic 
acid gas, 9} times of ox3^ji:en, 7^ times of nitrogen, and If times of h3dro- 
gen. The absorbing power is greatest when the wood has been charred iit a 
low temperature in a damp atmosphere, and with a high barometric pressure 
of the air. The absorption of gases is attended with an increase of leai- 
perature. 



148 



Preparation of Charcoal. 



these, a place should be selected where the ground is dry, and a 
little descending from the central part ; the rubbish should be care- 
fully cleared away, the soil beaten down hard, and the greatest 
precaution taken against the escaj^e of fire. In Europe, the law 
generally requires that a trench should be dug around the coaling- 
ground, and that a sufhcieut supply of water shall be near. The 
place should be well sheltered from the winds, and the soil should be 
compact, and not so porous that air can enter through it from below. 
594. Three stakes are first set in a triangular form, and around 
these the wood is piled as closely as possible, and generally as cut in 
lengths of 3 to 4 feet. It is either laid horizontally or vertically, as 
shown in the accompanying cut, taken from Karsten's Atlas. The 




77. Vertical Section through the Centers of two DiflFerent Kinds of 

Meilers. 

more common way is to set the wood endwise, sloping towards the 
center, and there is usually a second course, with the top filled out 
and made convex by wood piled flatwise. 

595. The Avhole is then covered with straw, dead leaves, or sod, 
and over this with earth, and the fire is dropped in at tlie top. 
Around the bottom holes are left for the admission of air; or some- 
times a passage is left on one side for introducing the fire. It is 
best to kindle early in the morning, and in fine weather, because i t 
requires much attention at first to get the ignition begun. When 
this is fiiirly established, the top is closed with sod. 

596. At first, a great deal of steam is generated, which condenses 
on the inner surface of the cover, and especially around the base, 
which is left open; and explosions may occur from the admission 
of air to the inflammable gases within, especially with dry resinous 
woods. 



Preparation of Charcoal. 



149 



597. When the sweating stage is over, the openings around the 
base should be partly closed, but some vent-holes must be left for 
the escape of gases. If hollow places form, the cover must be re- 
moved, and their place hastily filled in with wood. Tiie process 
must be watched day and night until it is completed, which is known 
by the color of the smoke. The time required for cooling is gener- 
ally about three weeks. The meiler is then packed as closely as 
passible, to exclude the air, and when cool enough the coals are 
drawn out. 

598. It is stated from experience that it is best not to wait until 
the fire is wholly extinguished, but to quench with water such sparks 
or burning places as are found. 

599. Sometimes a meiler is made higher and narrower than in the 
preceding figures, and in every form it is convenient to have plat- 
forms around the sides, at one or two levels, so as to be able to reach 
conveniently every part. In the annexed figure, a, b, represents the 
central opening for 
applying the fire, c, 
d, a bank of earth, 
with a step at e. An 
upper step, g, is sii im- 
ported by braces on 
various sides, as at/, 
and near the top the ^, „ ,. . ,. ., 

^ /S. Section of a ]\roi lor. or '^oal-pit. prepared for Firing, 

cover is laid open Un- as Practiced in Bavaria. 

til the whole j)art is well ignited, and the steam has principally 
passed ofi*. 

600. It is sometimes preferred to burn charcoal in kilns. They 
are generally made of brick, and the folio w^iug sizes, among others, 
are in use : 

Length. Width. Heisht. Capacity (Cords.) 

Used in New England j f J ^«?t- ]g ^'.'r^' }g ^'F^- 5 > feet. 

Type of those used in Mexico.. 40 " ]!» " IS " 75 " 

A'kiud used in Michigan 48 " 17 " 18 " 90 " 

It requires from 35 to 40 M. of brick for a kiln of 45 cords, and 
60 to (Jo M. for one of 90 cords. These rectano-ular kilns are arched 
at the top, and supported externally by a wooden framework, and 
iron tie rods. They have an iron door (d) capable of being made 
air-tight, and near the top a smaller door (e) for filing the upper 




150 



Preparation of Charcoal. 



part. Along the sides are air-holes (a, b, c,) that may be closed at 
will. 




SIDE ELEVATION 





END ELEVATIOM 



79. Charcoal Kilns —Side elevation, with air-holes, a, h. c. End elevation, with 
air-holes, a., h, c, an iron door, d. lor fillin!^ with wood and witlulrawini? coal, 
and MTiiiU door, e. I'or completing the filling-. Cross-section, with air-holes, 
doors, etc., as iu end elevation. The figures on dotted lines are feet and 
inches. 

601. Other kilns are cylindrical, with a low arch for a cover, but 
the principle of their operation does not essentially differ from that 
above represented. They all have openings for admitting air around 
the base, and for the escape of gases from above, all of which may 
be closed at will. 

G02. In another method, the kilns are of brick or stone made 
round and somewhat conical like a hay-stack, with openings on the 
side for filling and emptying, and air-holes for regulating the burning. 
They are of various capacities, but generally hold from 40 to 60 
cords of wood. They are best built upon sloping ground, with doors 
on the upper side for filling, and at the bottom for removing the 
coal, and in both rectangular and conical kilns there is a further ad- 



Preparation of Charcoal. 



151 



vantage from having several near together, that they may be watched 
and attended at less expense. 

603. I|i kilns of every form it will be found that the acid vapors 
of the smoke tend to act upon the lime in the mortar, and to corrode 
the iron-work exposed to its action, requiring attention, in order to 
prevent failure or accident from this cause. It is this action of 
smoke upon the mortar in chimneys that sometimes renders them 
unsafe when they become old. 

604. Charcoal made at low temperatures contains relatively more 
carbon and other gaseous elements than at a high degree of heat. 
The quantity also depends on the tempt^rature, and the duration of 
the process. The weight and excellence is generally in proportion 
to the dry weiglit of the wood from which it is made, and it is 
more easily kindled, if made at a low heat. 

605. The average yield in weight and volume varies, as will be 
seen by the following table : 



Percentage of Charcoal made in Standing Meilers, as shown by European 

Experiments.^ 



Kinds of Wood. 


In Kilns or 
"Standing Meilers." 


In Temporary Meilers. 




In Weight. 


InVolume 


In Weight. 


InVolume. 


Birch body-wood 

Beech and oak body- wood 

Beech round- wood. 


20-21 

2;]-27 

18-20 

24-28 

20-24 

21-25. 

22-25 

18 

24 


6r)-f)8 

52-54 

56-(V2 

60-70 

42-50 

50-(')5 

60-04 

57 

75 


18 
19 


53 
47 


l^iue body-wood 


19 

18 


58 
53 


Pine round- wood 


Pine stump-wood 


Spruce body-wood 

Sf)ruce round -wood 

Larch bod v- wood 


20 
16 

22 
18 
19 


52- 
42 
60 
55 
52 


Larcli round-wood 


Silver fir body- wood 

Silver fir round-wood 


20-28 
20 


60-65 
50 


Alder bodv-wood 


20 
25 
18 


50 
.54 

37 


Alder round-wood r 






Alder branches 













606. In layiug-meilers, the average per cent of the coniferous 
woods is about 23 by weight, and 60 by volume — and for beech woods 
22 per cent of weight, and 50 by volume. 

^Frorn Frommes Austrian Forest Calendar, 1882, p. 255, upon various 
authorities there cited. 



152 PrcjKiration of Charcoal. 

607. By the Dromart Process a kiin is constructed of cast-iron 
plates that form the floor and sides, and may he set up and taken 
down from time to time as it becomes desirable to change* the site. 
Beneath the iron floor there are flues leading to eqiu-distan'' points 
in the bottom, and a fire is kindled externally for supplying in part 
the heat required by the process. There are air-holes around the 
side and a chimney at the top, all of ^vhich may be opened or closed 
at will. The wood is set up endwise, and fills the entire space. In 
this, as in all other kilns, the volatile products may be saved. 

608. The Moreau Process proposes to secure carbonization in sheet- 
iron receivers of cylindrical or prismatic form, and capable of hold- 
ing a coid or two each. They are filled at the top through an open- 
ing that may be closely sealed, and the air is admitted through 
perforated tubes from below. These receivers are so arranged that 
several may be attended by the same men simultaneously, some 
being filled or emptied while the others are at work. They h.ave 
no bottom, and are speedily emptied by being turned over on their 
side. It is claimed that they afford 41 to 43 per cent in volume, 
and 30 in weight. 

609. Charcoal is an ingredient in gunpowder, and the best is 
made from the alder buckthorn (Bhamnus frangula) , although the 
common alder, willow, soft maple, hornbeam, basswood, and poplar 
are used. It is best prepared in iron retorts, in which the heat is 
applied externally, and the wood should be peeled, to avoid acci- 
dents from the ignition by sparks from sand in the bark in manu- 
facture. 

610. The percentage of ash in woods, as a rule, decreases as well 
in the bark as the wood, from below upwards, being more in the 
branches than in the trunk, and most in the twigs and leaves. In 
coniferous trees, the alkalies, magnesia, phosphoric acid, and sul- 
phuric acid in various combinations, occur most in the needles, and 
lime, iron, and manganese in the bark, and small branches. 

611. By far the most ashes are contained in the cambium and 
bark bundles, and more in the sap-wood generally than in the heart- 
wood. As the cellular system ceases to be active, it appears to give 
up its alkali and phosphoric acid to the use of the younger forma- 
tions, and thus in the life-process the same atoms may be used over 
and again in the same tree. 

612. It follows, from this, that the tree when young requires rela- 
tively more food than when old, and that nurseries exhaust the s^il 



Red Charcoal — Distilled Products of Wood. 153 

more rapidly in proportion than a forest of large trees. The process 
of assimilation may be compared to that observed in animal life, 
where the structures are formed in early life. 

Red Charcoal. 

613. About 1836, a method was introduced in France for semi- 
carbonizing wood, by placing it in chambers at the mouths of fur- 
naces, and exposing it to a heat by which the water and acetic acid 
are expelled, and the combustible gases left. This product, some- 
times called "■ torrified wood," is used in melting pig-iron for cast- 
ing and other purposes. It ignites freely, does not impair by keep- 
ing, and burns with a copious flame and intense heat. It is said 
for certain purposes to afford 30 per cent more of heat than fully- 
burned charcoal. The process being stopped just at the point 
where carbonization begins, the wood retains its texture and ap- 
pearance ; it may be split, cut, or sawed, but has lost its strength, 
and is of a reddish brown color. 

Distilled Products of Wood. 

614. In all forms of kilns the volatile products may be condensed 
and saved. The smoke is drawn from the kilns and condensed. The 
methylic alcohol or wood- spirit is first separated by distillation ; the 
residue of dilute acetic acid is then neutralized with lime, and 
evaporated to dryness. About two gallons of the wood spirit are 
produced from the smoke of a cord of hard wood, and when puri- 
fied it may be applied to all chemical uses for which common alco- 
hol is employed, but chiefly in. making paints and varnishes. After 
the spirits are distilled out, the residue, with lime added, yields 
about 200 pounds to the cord. It is chiefly used in making white 
lead. 

615. Besides these, a large number of chemical products may be 
derived from the distillation of wood, having use in calico printing, 
and in other industries, and the value from a given quantity of 
wood from these sources, at present prices, amounts to more than 
twice that of the charcoal made at the same time. The gases re- 
maining in this process have not much illuminating power, but are 
used in supplying a part of the heat required for the evaporation. 



154 Wood Gas — Forest Fires. 



Illuminating Gas from Wood. 

616. It is found that wood exposed to cherry-red heat in close 
retorts, yields a gas which, when purified, has a much greater 
illuminating power than the best obtained from coal. In this way 
chips and other waste pieces of wood have been turned to profitable 
account. The heat in this process must be carried to a greater de- 
gree than in the making of charcoal, and hence the residual product 
is of inferior quality. The different kinds of wood are about alike 
as to value in furnishing gas for illumination, the quantity averag- 
ing, in eight of the common kinds, about 582.35 cubic feet to 100 
pounds of wood. 

617. The condition as to dryness, however, is of great importance, 
since the vapor of water coming in contact with the incandescent 
charcoal will form an oxyde of carbon and of hydrogen, that will 
reduce its illuminating power. The wood should therefore be dried 
as much as possible just before being placed in the retort, or else it 
will again absorb moisture from the air. 

618. Where steam-power is used, the waste steam may be carried 
in pipes through the drying chamber, and a current of air may be 
driven or drawn through the wood, securing the requisite degree 
of dryness, without much expense. The retorts may be like those 
for coal gas, but larger, and as the process gives the best result 
when heated rapidly, the furnaces should have a larger amount of 
grate surface. A charge is worked out in an hour and a half, and 
the charcoal formed is at the end drawn out into sheet-iron extin- 
guishers and tightly closed for cooling. As the liquid products are 
corrosive to iron, copper pipes must be used, and the gas must be 
purified before being used.^ 

CHAPTER XV. 

FOREST FIEES. 

619. There is no subject in Forestry more important than the 
prevention and control of forest fires. They every year do a vast 
amount of injury, not only to standing timber and young trees, but 

^ Those wishing to look further into this subject, will find detailed informa- 
tion in the Forestry Report of 1877, published b^' the Department of Agri- 
culture, p. 133, and in the authorities there cited. 



Forest Fires. 155 

to fences, bridges, buildings, farms and mill property, and to cord- 
wood, lumber and bark cut in readiness for market. Not only this, 
they sterilize the land by burning out the vegetable mold, so that 
trees can not be made to grow again, until in some degree this ma- 
terial is restored by the decayed herbage, and the fall of leaves from 
an undergrowth of bushes — a process which requires many years 
to accomplish. 

620. Sometimes the fire runs from tree to tree in the tops, instead 
of spreading along the ground, as in the great Miramachi fire of 
Kew Brunswick, in 1825, and the Peshtigo fire of Wisconsin, in 
1871. Upon each of these occasions, many hundred human lives 
were lost. The Michigan fires of 1871 and 1881 were memorable 
from the destruction of towns, villages, bridges, and farm property 
that they occasioned. 

621. In the great fires above mentioned, the forests had been 
long exposed to intense solar heat and to drouth, and vegetable 
matter in every form would ignite from the least spark, and burn 
beyond control. The currents of air which the flames excited, be- 
came furious gales of wind, and swept every thing before them in a 
tornado of fire. 

622. Without giving historical or statistical details, we will pre- 
sent the subjects under the three heads of causes, prevention and 
control. 

(1.) Causes of Forest Fires. 

623. These fires generally originate from the following causes, 
and somewliat in order of importance as here placed : 

(a.) From fires that escape in the clearing of lands, and the burn- 
ing off of brush and stubble in j^reparing the ground for cultivation. 

(h.) From sparks and coals of locomotives along lines of railroad. 

(c.) From fires purposely set to improve pasturage, upon moun- 
tains and in marshy grounds. This is a very common practice in 
the Southwestern and Southern States, the fires being often set by 
persons who do not own the land, to aflford grazing to their few 
head of cattle, upon lands not their own. 

(d.) From fires carelessly left by persons camping, hunting or 
fishing, and by tramps. 

(e.) From the careless use of matches, that are thrown down and 
not extinguished, or from tobacco-pipes, cigars, or gun-wads. 



15G Forest Fires. 

(/.) From fires that escape from coal-pits and other operations 
carried on in the woods. 

((/.) From malicious design. 

(/i.) l-'rom natural causes, such as lightning, friction between 
dry wood in high winds, and spontaneous combustion. 

(2.) Prevention of Forest Fires. 

624. A constant vigilance in the use of fire, and in extinguishing 
every spark, when left, and proper care in the clearing away of all 
combustible materials around the place where a fire is kindled in or 
near a woodland, would render every other prevention almost need- 
less. The danger from fires should be thorouglily impressed upon 
every one, and especially upon children, at home and at school, so 
that they may grow up with careful habits in this respect. 

625. A kind of safety-match is made in immense quantities in 
Sweden, and is used extensively throughout Europe. It can not be 
ignited except when rubbed upon a surface that is chemically pre- 
pared, and that is placed upon one side of the box in which they 
are sold. Tiie use of matches prepared like these, and the habit of 
extinguishing them when lighted, would prevent accidents from 
this cause. Gun-wads are also made that will not burn, and that 
are entirely safe as to retaining fire. 

626. The risk of fire from locomotives may be largely diminished 
by the use of spark-extinguishers and other arrangements, many of 
which have been patented. The law in most states renders rail- 
road companies responsible for the damages that they may cause, 
and this law rigidly enforced would greatly tend to the exercise 
of more care in this respect. As a further precaution, the leaves 
and rubbish along railroads should be raked off' and burned, at a 
time when the fires can be managed. Piles of old decaying ties 
should be removed. Belts of timber, less inflammable than pines, 
should be planted along railroads that run through pine forests, 
and railroads should be patrolled in a dry time, for the purpose of 
extinguishing the fires that may be set, before damages are done. 

627. In regions where fires are exceedingly liable to occur, the 
burning off" of bells of land in winter, when the fires do not spread 
beyond control, and need some help to burn at all, is a safe precau- 
tion ; such fires, however, injure the young trees, and they should 
be allowed to extend no more tlian necessary. 



Forest Fires. 157 

628. Damages from prairie fires are best prevented by plowing 
a few furrows in parallel lines, fifty or a hundred feet apart, and 
burning off the grass between, soon after it is killed down by frost, 
and before it is very dry. This ^^ractice along the sides of railroads 
in a prairie region, is excellent. 

629. In Europe, fire-guards are made through the woods, by 
clearing away all trees and all matter that can burn, in belts from fifty 
to one hundred feet wide. To be effectual, they must be cleaned 
out every year or two. If such belts were planted with deciduous 
trees, that do not take fire so readily as conifers, they would afford 
some protection, but not as much as the bare soil. 

630. Common roads answer the same end, and in a region liable 
to fires, they should be wide and the sides well cleared. The French 
Ordinance of Waters and Forests (1669), prescribed that public 
roads through forests should be at least seventy-two feet wide, and 
that all thorns and bushes within sixty feet should be cleared off 
on each side. 

681. Avenues through a forest present the unavoidable disad- 
vantage of exposing the timber to the winds. This effect is greatest 
in heavy-topped hemlocks, etc., and least where the woodland has 
grown up with the space reserved, as the branches of the trees on 
the outside are then strong, and extend lower down, affording much 
resistance to the wind. 

632. Where streams of water flow through nearly level wood- 
lands, they may sometimes be raised by dams, so as to form a series 
of narrow ponds for long distances, that would check all ground- 
fires. Stone walls, mounds of earth, and cactus-hedges afford some 
protection. 

633. Our state laws should provide for the designation of some 
existing officer, or the election of some special officer, who should 
have authority to call out help for extinguishing forest fires. Such 
men should be thoroughly familiar with their districts, and with all 
lines of defense that can be used to oppose an advancing fire. Per- 
sons when thus called upon, should be liable to a fine if they refuse 
to assist without reasonable excuse. 

634. Laws rendering all persons responsible for the damages that 
may be done from fires that they set, whether carelessly or in- 
tentionally, should be enacted and enforced. In Penusylvania they 
have a law rendering the counties responsible for the expenses in 



158 Forest Fires. 

hiring men to extinguish fires, and it should be adopted generally. 
If farmers found that they might have taxes to pay for damages 
done by this cause, they would be very careful iu burning their 
fallows, and in seeking to prevent it from being done carelessly by 
others. 

635. A ground-fire that runs through a young plantation of ash, 
oak, catalpa, and other deciduous trees, may kill down the tops, and 
apparently destroy them entirely. We should not give them up as 
ruined, for they will often sprout from the roots, and grow as vigor- 
ously as before. The most that can be done in such cases, is to cut 
off the old stems and all but the thriftiest of the new ones. As for 
the old one, it only does harm by preventing its place from healing 
over. Several small growing sprouts from one root are not so de- 
sirable as one strong one. 

636. In humid climates, and in damp grounds, the undergrowth 
sometimes comes in so as to cover the surface, to the injury of the 
growth of the trees. ^ It is necessary, in order to secure the 
greatest benefit, to clear out the bushes and ground-herbage and 
burn it. For this purpose the material, after being pulled up, is 
best arranged in piles, at some distance from the trees, covering 
it with sod before setting it on fire. By avoiding a dry time, 
this can be done safely, as the fire will smolder away, with much 
smoke and little flame, until the whole is reduced to ashes. These 
are then spread over the ground, tending to renew its fertility. 
The larvse of many kinds of insects that fikd shelter in the litter, 
are by this means destroyed. 

(3.) Control of Forest Fires. 

637. Among the means employed for stopping the progress of a 
forest fire when started, the following are the most important: 
Throwing water and wetting a line of ground ; sand and soil thrown 
upon the edge of a line of fire will sometimes do almost as well ; 
the fire may be whipped out with green bushes; the rubbish may 
be raked away toward the advancing fire and burned : and some- 
times furrows may be plowed, to present a line of fresh earth. 

638. Back-firing, consists in setting a fire commencing along some 
road, stream of water, wall, or other line where its spread in one 

^In French Forestry this undergrowth is called ^'■bois mort^^ literally "dead 
wood."' 



Forest Fires — Other Injuries. 159 

direction may be prevented, and allowing this fire to run till it 
meets the principal fire. Great fires sometimes cause an inward 
current of air that favors back-firing. As fires advance down hill 
more slowly than they ascend, the counter-fires may often be set to 
best advantage at the bottom of a valley. The crest of a ridge is, 
however, a much better line of defense. 

639. After a fire has apparently been brought under control, it 
should be carefully watched until it is entirely extinguished. If 
neglected it will sometimes get under way with more energy than 
before, even some days or weeks afterwards. On a rocky surface, 
full of deep fissures, there is very great danger to be dreaded from 
these concealed fires, that may smolder unobserved for a long time. 

640. It is always a safe precaution to have water, buckets, spades, 
axes, etc., in readiness for use in case of fires. In some regions in 
Europe, a system of signals is arranged, and persons are on watch 
from towers on high hills, for the special purpose of discovering 
fires, and making known their locality. A system of telegrapliic 
signals, consisting of willow-baskets by day, and of lanterns by 
night, has been proposed in Spain for this use, and by a simple com- 
bination representing numbers, a correspondent may receive a great 
variety of messages in a brief space of time, by the aid of books in 
which these messages are referred to by corresponding numbers. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

PROTECTION FROM OTHER INJURIES THAN FIRES. 

641. A young woodland needs protection even more than a grain- 
field, because the injuries done, may destroy the growth of several 
years instead of one. These damages may be done by wild or do- 
mestic animals, or by insects ; or they may be caused by disease, by 
storms of wind, by the obstruction of water-courses that may over- 
flow level lands, and in various other ways, many of which can be 
prevented or removed. 

Pasturage of Woodlands. 

642. In European governments, the rights of pasturage in the 
public woodlands are regulated by law, and sometimes they are 
sold, for one year at a time, at public auction. In many cases it Is 
a common right, subject to regulation by the local government. 



160 Ivjuries from Animals, 

The practice is forbidden altogether in young woods, until the 
growth has reached a size that would prevent injury from being 
done. 

643. As a general rule, sheep and goats do much more harm than 
horses and cattle, and in some countries they are altogether ex- 
cluded at all times. The fattening of swine upon acorns and nuts 
is considered of no injury to large trees. The pasturage of steep 
mountain slopes is much more injurious than upon level land, and 
has tended to produce immense injuries by exposing the soil to 
erosions, as elsewhere more fully noticed. 

644. It is an admirable practice to plant groves of trees in pas- 
ture grounds, to provide shade for stock, but such groves must be 
protected by fences until the foliage is above the reach of cattle, 
and the trunks of the trees are so large that they would not be liable 
to injury. 

Injuries to Seeds, Seedlings, and Trees, by wild Animals. 

645. In noticing the agencies for the distribution of seeds, we 
have elsewhere given credit to birds, and especially to squirrels, as 
planters [§ 125]. We must, iiowever, guard against the latter, in 
keeping nuts in heaps for spring planting. The liability to injury 
by moles and mice in winter, is a principal reason for our delaying 
to plant nuts, acorns, and other seeds till spring, instead of planting 
in the fall, as is done in nature, [§ 130.] 

646. These animals do injuries to nurseries and plantations in 
winter, especially when the snows are deep. Kabbits are very fond 
of gnawing the bark from young trees, and where these animals are 
kept, it is necessary to guard against their injuries by stone walls, 
laid from below the reach of their burrows, or by wire screens. 

647. Fruit and shade trees may be protected by binding tarred 
paper around the trunks near the ground, and by treading down 
the snows around them in winter. Hedgehogs will feed upon the 
bark and twigs of the hemlock in winter, and certain birds may do 
injury to trees by biting off the buds. 

648. The gopher (Geomys bursarius) is one of the most trouble- 
some pests in the Western States, from its eating off the roots of 
young trees; and a single animal has been known to follow a line 
of newly set osage orange hedge, in the soil soft from recent plant- 
ing, and destroy the roots for many rods. They may be poisoned 



Birds that Destroy Pine Seeds — Insect Ravages. 161 

by placing strychnine or arsenic in a carrot, apple, or a potato near 
where their burrows come to the surface — but caution should be 
taken in the use of these dangerous poisons. 

649. In parks and forests where game is protected, there is some- 
times much sacrificed from their propensity to gnaw and rub. Deer 
are as destructive to the herbage of young trees as slieep or goats. 
In Europe, it is customary to feed hay and turnips to herbivorous 
game in winter. 

650. In sowing pine seeds, it becomes necessary to guard against 
some of the gramnivorous birds, who seem to be attracted, as if by 
instinct, to the feast. The white-throated and white-crowned spar- 
rows, appear to be particularly fond of these seeds, and after the 
young shoots have come up, they become dainty food for the com- 
mon yellow-bird. The best remedy against these birds, is a thin 
covering of marsh-grass or of fine brush, care being taken that it 
does not smother the young plants. A better one would be an old 
seine, suspended upon poles a few inches above the seed-beds in the 
nursery. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

INSECT RAVAGES IN AVOODLANDS. 

651. Our limits do not permit more than a general notice of the 
damages done to trees from insects. They begin with the seed — are 
found in the young shoot, and in the bark or wood of the roots, 
trunk and branches, at every stage of growth — in the leaves, the 
blossoms, and the ripening fruit. They sometimes appear in small 
numbers, and every year alike, and at others they increase in im- 
mense number, and either progressively or simultaneously destroy 
every thing before them. 

652. Among those most systematic in their movements is the 
processionary caterpillar, shown in the annexed engravings, copied 
from De la Blanchere.^ The moth appears in August or Septem- 
ber, and for some days remains motionless under the leaves and 
branches, flying only in the twilight. The female lays some 
two hundred eggs upon the bark, and from these the worms soon 
hatch out. They live together in a common net, often changing 
their abode till the third moult, when they set out in the evening 

^Les Ravageurs des I'orets, ei des Arbres (f Alignement, i. 170. 



162 



Insect Ravages in Woodlands, 



,-i ^^ ^^ 





81. Female Moth of tlie Bonibyx pro 
ce^sionea 



^-''-^-:^y-i\y 



80. Bombi/x proc^ssionea.— (The Processionary Caterpillar.) 

"^ ^^^1 in an orderly march — first one, then 
^^^ two, three, and f'/iir abreast, and so 
__, wideuhig by one at every rank, in solid 
H\V trian^rular plialanx, and in immense 

legions. When there arc no more 
oak leaves to destroy, tliey consume 
the undergrowth, and they do not 
fail to take harvests and gardens 
before them. The hirsute append- 
ages with which they are cov^ercd 
cause irritating inflammations 
when in contact with the naked 
,^^ skin or a mucous surface, and 
neither man nor beast can remain 
in a forest when they are abroad. 
653. Against enemies like these 
man is scarcely, able to defend 
himself, but there are enemies 
82. caiosovia. a Carnivorous Beetle, de- that also appear abundantly whcn 

structive to the I'roccssiouarv Caterpil- , i • r i i .^ , i ,,, ^^,^■^. 

iar. ■ their locd becomes plenty, tiiat 




77VM 



mv 



Insect Ravages in Woodlands. 163 

tend to limit these iDJuries. One of these is 

a carnivorous beetle, that hatches out at about 

the same time. Although tliey have wings, Bf^'^i! 

they attack them on the ground, and mount 

upon the trees to seize their prey. 

^^i. Usually beetles of the general form 

shown in the foregoing engraving, with long 

sharp jaws and very rapid movements, belong 

to the carnivorous class: Something may be 

done to prevent the injuries of tlie Avorms above 

described, by scraping off the eggs from the 

bark. They are always deposited on the out- 
side trees of a forest, and never within it. 
655. Of bark-boring insects the conifers have 

an unusually large share, there being, perhaps, 

no species that is entirely free from tlieir rav- 
ages. They are sometimes very symmetrical 
in their work, the bark, exteruahy, showing a 
row of holes at equal intervals, and, between 
the wood and bark, burrows running sometimes 
horizontally, at other times vertically or ob- 
liquely, with numerous branching burrows that 
seldom or never run into one another, however 
nearly tliey may approach. 

^b(). The main stem of these burrows is 
made by the jmrent- insect, who, as she ad- 
vances, deposits her eggs on the sides. From 
these the larvae hatch, and, because small, the ||| 
passage which they make is at first narrow. It 
widens as they grow in size, and at the end may 
expand into a little chamber. When the worm 
has finished this stage of its growth, it becomes ''" ^^^S'^^^^^n^^'' 
a pupa, and finally eats out iato the open air, as a perfect insect. 
Its mitural size is shown by the side of the above engraving. 

657. The immense numbers in which these insects appear in some 
years, render their ravages very destructive, and as they often pro- 
duce two broods in a year, a single insect may, in three or four 
seasons, when the increase is not checked, multiply in enormous 
quantities. 



fc^5^ 



m 



tmm 



%m\ 



164 



Insect Eavagcs in Woodlands, 



658. As a general rule, these bark-boring insects are most liable 
to attack fallen timber, and especially that which has been over- 
thrown by storms in the season of active vegetation, or trees that 
have had their vitality weakened from being scorched by fire. 




84. Hylesinua pini- 85. Burrows of the Hylesivuft pinfperda under the Bark of the 
perda (greatly en- Scotch Pine, with the Insects of natural size. 

large d). 

659. The damage done to logs cut for lumber may be lessened by 
^,„,.,_ takino; off the bark as 

BU,:i fiMlfeiM.KM^^^^^ soon as the trees are 



iiliwipiiiiifi' 



;||ff| felled. Tlie above en- 
gravings represent an en- 
larged view of one of 
these bark-insects, with 
the form of its burrows, 
and the insect of its nat- 
ural size. 

660. AVitli respect to 
wood-boring insects, the 
amount of injury done to 
the timber depends upon 
the uses to wliich it is to 

86. Punctures made in the Heart-wood of Oak, by a , tp t i .l -j. 

Lymexyelon, natural size. be applied. It SUght, it 



Wmsm 



m 

mm 
iii 



Insect Ravages in Woodlands, 



165 




87. Cavities made in Fallen Timber by the 
Larvffi of Insects, tending to rapidly 
hasten its Decay. 



may still be good for car- 
pentry, but improper for 
coopers' use; if the bur- 
rows are large, they tend 
to admit moisture, and to 
become great open cavi- 
ties, and in certain other 
cases tlie wood is so eaten 
that it becomes nothing 
but a shell — perhaps sound 
and without the least ap- 
pearance of injury exter- 
nally, but wholly eaten 
out into caverns within. 

661. These wood-eating 
insects are especially com- 
mon in decavinji: wood, 
and where they are strict- 
ly limited to this, they can 
scarcely be considered as 
of great injury, and in 
some cases they may be 
even beneficial, in hasten- 
ing its decay. 

662. There are other 
classes of insects found 
upon wood and leaves, and 
even in burrows in the 
wood and bark, that are 
predatory in their habits, 
pursuing other insects and 
destroying them, either in 
the perfect state, or as lar- 
vae, or by feeding upon SS. Wood that has been thoron^hly ruined by the 
their QCf(y<i. Larvae of the Cerambyx hcros. 

6(52J. These carnivorous insects are the surest agency for counter- 
acting the inordinate increase of the injurious kinds, and when the 
latter multiply to undue extent, the abundance of food thus offered 
leads to their increase also, until the balance of nature is again re- 




166 



Insect Ravages in Woodlands. 



stored. We here present a cut of the larva of the great Capricorn 
beetle; that which sometimes proves destructive to the oak, and 
that causes the damages shown in the last preceding engraving. 




89. Larva of the Cerambyx heros. 

These insects require three years for their transformations, and do 
not usually attack the timber until it has passed its stage of full 
matui'ity and has begun to decline, but w^liile tlie \vo;jd is still hard 
and sound. The Capricorn beetles to which this insect belongs, are 
among tiie most destructive of wood-borers ; some inhabiting the 
trunks of trees, and some only the limbs. There are other insects 
that devour the pith or the roots, and some are found only in 
herbaceous plants. 

663. The insects that burrow under the bark, or that mine into 
the w^ood, are sometimes very systematic in their operations, and 
this symmetry may all be due to the work of one insect, that de- 
posits her eggs at equal intervals along the burrow. These, upon 
hatching into larvae, eat their way from the main burrow, sometimes 
to but a short distance, and without enlargement at the end, and at 




90, Cross-section showin,? the Burrows of the Bostrichus 
linc.atu$. 

other times widening as they gain in size, till they reach their limit 
of growth, and then, after completing their transformations, they 



Insect R'AVagcs in Woodlands, 



167 




91. Verrical Peotinn tlirniia-h 
the Burrows of the Bostrichus 
lineatus. 



emerge through holes eaten in the bark, and come forth as perfect 
insects. 

664. Climatic vicissitudes have great 
influence upon the multiplication or 
decrease in the number of insects. A 
very hot and dry season may favor an 
increase, or an unusually cold, wet, and 
backward one may destroy them. 

665. Insectivorous birds do much 
to keep injurious insects in check, and 
where there is an abundance of this 
food, they will sometimes appear in 
great numbers. The presence of these 
birds is therefore to be encouraged ; 
and as groves and belts of timber are 
multiplied, the conditions favoring their coming and sojourn, to the 
benefit of our grain and fruits, are increased. For these reasons 
they should be strongly protected by efficient game laws, and by 
public sentiment, against their destruction, or tlie disturbance of 
their nests. 

665J. In some countries, as in France, the importance of protect- 
ing birds is taught in the schools, and the children are shown how 
to distinguish the useful kinds of birds, small auimals, reptiles, and 
insects from those tliat are iujurious, and tlie best means for pro- 
tecting the former, and of destroyini'- the latter. Little " Protec- 
tion Societies" are organized among the children, for preventing in- 
juries to birds and tlieir nests, and various means are devised to 
impress the young with correct ideas concerning the interests 
depending upon the allies of the field. 

6QG. In nurseries, gardens, orchards, and parks, we may some- 
times adopt measures for the destruction of insects, when they ap- 
pear in unusual number, by some kind of poisons, such as Paris- 
green, London-purple, white-hellibore, etc., but where they invade' 
a whole forest, and especially when they occur in regions remote 
from settlements, we can do nothing, and must await the operation 
of natural causes for restoring the balance, through the natural 
agencies of climate and the antagonism in iusect life. 

667. In some countries this can be done by costly methods, such 
as cutting down the infected trees, and burning the tops and the 



li)8 



liisi'cf Ii(U'tu/i\< in ]Vooilliiiui.<. 



Imrk. But these horoif ivmoilios are ]M'aetieally imieli Ivvond our 
moans for sueeossful ap}>li('atioH in a large way. Fortunately these 
Liivat invasions do not last niany yi^ars in sni'eession, 'I'hev may 
leave n wide-spread ruin hehind tluMu. but siHue other species of 
timber tree with (ewer iusin-t eneniios will eonie on t(> snpply tlu> 
plaee ; ami «:enerally the timber killed may still be used tbr lumber 
or Uiel, if out within a year ov two atterwartls. In the ease of 
timber bored into eavities, of einu'se the value is ureatly impaired 
for luanv uses, ixud its decay is Lieuerally hastened by these causes. 
(k)S. Where the tree survives the injury oi' an insc^et year, the 
'tf^^'v^"''':Yt^ etfeet is oeuorallv seen in the diminished oTowtli 
lli"' •■i;i*^ '^ of that season. We have seen in the Museum of :i 
I^^chool of Fiu'cstry, a seetiiui oi^ a tree some hun- 
tlreds oi years old, in which ibr Imil!,- piM-icnls to- 
gether every third rimj,- ot' uivnvth was niirrow, as 
we see in t>ne ol' the rines in the auni>\ed eni;rav- 
iuiT. This was caused by the eatinu- otf oi' the 
leaves every third year by a cater[>illar. 

bbO. If the leading slun^t oi' a ytuuig conifer is 
oaten ot\' by insects, or killed Irom any other 
^"Vn-K^n.Mhri'oaJo^^ ^^^ gnuvth is checked until another, and 

"»'^''\ '''^^;. 'V^^'^V"*' sonunimes two shoots are tbrmed in its i>laeo. This 
gives a defeetivo form, and injures its value. In 
a lawn or uurserv, this danuige may be repaired by herbaceous 
graftiuix from the terminal shoot of another tree, as elsewhere 
described. 

(uO. The da'.uages done by insects to a torest arc sometimes im- 
mense. In recent years the spruce timber iu New Brunswick, 
]Maiue, and Xortheru New York has been thus destroyed to the ex- 
tent oi' millions of dollars in value. 

G71. Kaltenbach, an approved European writer upon Forest 
Entomology, enumerates o'ol species of iusects injurious to the oaks, 
107 to the elms, 12CU t.> the poplars, o.H) to the willows, 270 to the 
birches, 119 to the alder, 154 to the beech, 97 to the hazelnut, and 
88 to the liornbeam. Of coniferous trees, the pines, spruces, larch, 
and firs are fed u}ion by 299 species, and the junipers by oo. 

(>72. Tn the United States, while many observers have given 
their attention to this branch of natural history, much still remains 
iv be known upon this subject, especially as relates to the geograph- 



pip'' 



(JlaHHyko,t:i.()n of Ini-.c/in: (j>b'.(/f)Ura. iC/.j 

ical ran;.;o of Hpecien, their mi;^ration«, tlic c/dUHc/A tliat favor or 
ljirHJ<r tiKiir incrc/dH*',, nud tho nir;arjH for dirnininfiing thr^ir flarnagf^. 
G7'>. In a recent puhJicatiou of tljc L'. H. JOntomologica) Corn- 
TriifHion, j^n^parrid by JVof. A. S. I'ackanl, Jr., of J*rovidr;fjr;e, K. I./ 
tl)f;ro han been collect(.'rl a Humrnary of all that liad f>e/^n previouHly 
publihlieri cj iuccruni'^i tlie foreHt-inw.-ctH of the United 8tate8. We 
Avill f^renent Horne of the more irnjxjrtant faetn of thi.-; KejK^rt, eon- 
wrrning the rnon; injuriouH of tlien^; inneetH. Ah it will fx; neef^-fary 
t/> refer to the onlern under which inhccte arc cluaHdd, they may be 
first corjciw;ly defined : 

/"l.; COLEOITEHA CjjeefJ/:H). 

074. Tliene are 'inhoj-Xa with jawn, two thick win^'-coven«, in a 
etraight line on the top of tlie f>ack, with two filrny-wing-, which are 
folded transverHely. 'i'liey pann through four HtageH of life — the 
egg, the larv/i or grubs ^generally provided with hix leg.*;, the pu]:>a, 
and the pc^rfect iriKCCt. In mont caKCH the greatent damage is done 
in the larva Ktate. The coleoptera ar^; divided int^j Hcveral rrreat 
divinionn, the principal of whicli are as follows: 

G75. (fi.j Tlie H<'/inj})(fM(f.^ (t\n\)r'dj('Auii an immense nurnlxr of 
species, known as ground or dung-f>cetle8, trwj-beetlcH, etc. Their 
larvte do great damages to the roots of trees, and the jxrirfect in- 
sects to the leavcH and twign. They fly in tlie evenlnjr, and may l)e 
destroyed to some extent }>y shaking tljcnj off from the trees in the 
morning, first spreading cloths before jarring the trees. 

070. ("/>.; The J/u/'Mnvhr., or stag-Wtlcs, which are distinguished 
by the great size and jKiCuliar form of their upper jaws. The grul^js 
of tlie larger kinds are said to remain six years Vxifore chanrring to 
a perfect insect. They live in the trunks and roots of trees, and 
b<^jre into the solid wood. 

077. ((-.) The />a/»e«^n>/^^, or saw-horned beetles, so called because 
the tips of the joints of their antenn'je project more or less on the 
inside, somewhat like the teeth of a saw. They are often brightly 
(yjlored, and have u-uallya hard shell and an oblong form, ta[>ering 
behind. They keep concealed at night, and are abroad only by 

' Bullf'tin No. 7. Ia>^f,f:tH Iri/juriouH to Foreat and Sh/ide Treen, 1881, p. 275. 
ThiH Cornini-i-^iori coimnU of ProUmnorA CharUiff V. Kiloy, of the Depart' 
rrjont <»f A'^r'iraUura sit WHfhirit^on, I)r. A. S. Par-kjir<l, Jr., r»f Brown Uai- 
vf^r.-^ity, VroKuUiUCf, :.nd Prof. CyruH Thomas, of CnrborKjjiU;, 111. 



170 



Classijication of Insects : Coleoptera: 



day. The larva3 are wood-borers, and chiefly attack forest and 
fruit trees that are past their prime. The pine and hickory trees 
especially suffer from their ravages. Their larvie are long, rather 
flat, yellowish white, and widened near the forward part. The 
head itself issmall, and provided with teeth for boring. They in- 




^Z. Mclolonlha vulgaris {'^IsXc SindYcmaXe). 

elude the flat-headed larvse found under the bark and in the wood 
of our fruit trees, and may to some extent be kept out by surround' 
ing the trunks with tarred paper, and by soaping, white-washing, 
and cutting out, or by seeking and destroying the perfect insects. 

678. (d.) The Elater'idce, or spring-beetles, are most destructive to 
wood and roots in the larva state. They arc sometimes called wire^ 
worms, and some are wood-eaters, living under the bark; and in the 



Classification of Insects: Coleoptera. 



171 



trunks of old trees. The timber-beetles, so destructive in ship- 
yards, belong to this division. The foregoing beetles, although 
differing greatly in form and habits, agree in one character, viz., 
their feet are five-jointed, while those that follow are four-jointed. 

679. (e.) The RhijncJwphoridce, or Aveevils, mostly of very small size, 
so destructive to grains, and upon trees, boring into the bark, leaves, 
buds, fruit, and seeds, and feeding upon tlie juices and soft parts 
therein. They are day-insects, and love to come out in the sun- 
shine. Some fly well, but others have no wings, and generally they 
are slow and timid in their motions. The weevils are divided into 
several great families, and include an immense number of species. 

680. (/.) The Scolijtidce, or cylindrical bark-beetles, mostly very 
small, but often doing the most serious injuries, especially in pine 
and spruce forests, by mining under the bark, and boring galleries 
in the new wood. 

681. (g.) The Bostrichidce — formerly classed with the preceding, 
but now separately. They are often of large size, and especially in 
tropical countries, they may prove Yery destructive. Their larvse 
bore galleries in the solid wood of living trees. 




94 Bostrichvs typo- 
praphicits (greatly 
enlarged/. 



95. Burrows of the Bostrichus fiipngraphiruR under the 
Bark of the Spruce, with the insects of the isatural 
Size. 



682. Two nearly allied species of the Bostrychus have proved very 
destructive to spruce forests in Europe. They are always found 
more or less under the bark of decaying trees, tut when the condi- 



172 



Classification of Insects : Colcoptcra* 



ditions for their increase are multiplied, as in case of many trees 
being prostrated by a gale, they increase in enormous quantities, and 
destroy whole forests. In sucli cases, they appear to attack per- 
fectly healthy trees. The first of these (i>. typogTaphkiia) does the 
most harm, and is found chiefly in and under the bark of the trunk 
and large branches. The preceding engraving represents a set 
of burrows made by the larvaa hatched from the eggs of one insect, 
and an enlarged view of the insect itself. 

683. The burrows of the Bosttlchus calcographus are generally 
found at the same time, and upon the same trees as those of the 
preceding species, but only upon the smaller branches. The only 




96. Burrows of the Bostrichus chalcopraphus, with the Insects 
of Natural Size. 

effectual remedy known against these insects, is that of cutting down 
the trees, and peeling and burning the bark. In an invasion of 
these insects in the Jura region in South-eastern France, folbwing 
as one of the consequences of a storm that happened in November, 
1*^64, it became necessary from 1867 to 1873 to carefully examine 
every tree in a forest, and to cut down every spruce that showed 
signs of the insect, and to peel and burn the bark upon over 



Classification of Insects: Ortho'ptera, 



173 



181,000 trees. By this energetic means, the ravages of these in- 
sects were arrested. 

684. In the United States, at present prices of labor, and of 
timber, sucli a remedy would be wholly impracticable, but this 
statement serves to illustrate the great importance attached to this 
subject in Europe, and the sacrifices that are sometimes made to 
check these injuries. 

685. (h). The Ceranihycidece — the 
long-horned or Capricorn beetles, are de- 
structive wood-borers. They generally 
rest by day upon the trees, and fly by 
night. Their larva3 are long whitish 
^rubs, with the head smaller than the 
first ring, and provided with short but 
powerful jaws. These grubs, in some 
cases, live several years before coming 
to maturity. They are divided into 
three families and many groups, some 
species in the tropics measuring five or 




six inches in length and tw'o inches in 



97. Lerambyx carcharlas. 



breadth. 

686. The remaining divisions of the beetles, some of which are 
injurious to trees, and especially to the leaves, can not be here de- 
scribed in detail. Some species are leaf-miners, eating out the soft 
parts and leaving the skeleton, and some doing injury in the larva 
form while others injure as perfect insects. Many of these appear 
to be governed by climatic influences, appearing in some years very 
abundantly, while at other times they disappear for a series of years 
altogether. 

(2.) Orthoptera {Cockroaches^ Crickets, Grasshoppers, etc). 

687. These are insects with jaws, two rather thick and opaque 
upper wings, overlapping a little on the back, and two larger thin 
wings, which are folded in plaits. Transformation partial, larvse 
and pupae active, but want- 
ing wings. All insects of 
this order — except the camel- 
crickets, which prey upon 
other insects — are injurious 98. Moie-Crickct. 




174 Insects : Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Lepidoptera. 

to man. The mole-cricket is one of this class, and in Europe is 
very troublesome in nurseries and gardens, by eating the roots of 
trees and plants. A single brood will destroy a whole seed-bed. 
By breaking the crust of hardened earth in June, their nests are 
exposed to the air, and the eggs perish. 

(3.) Hemipteea (Bugs, Locusts, Plant-lice, etc.). 
, 688. These are insects with a horny beak for suction, four wrings, 
of which tlie upper are generally thick at the base, with thinner ex- 
tremities, and which lie flat and cross each other on the top of the back, 
or are of uniform thickness throughout, and slope at the sides like a 
roof. Transformation partial, larvae and pupae nearly like the adult 
insect, but wanting wings. Some, like the cochineal insect, are use- 
ful, but the damages done by plant-bugs, locusts, tree-hoppers, 
froth-insects, plant-lice, bark-lice, mealy-bugs, and the like, by 
sucking the juices of plants, is very great. 

(4.) Neuroptera (^Dragon-flies, Lace-ivlnged Flies, May-flies, Aiit-liorif 
Day-fly, White Ants, etc.). 

689. These are insects with jaws, four netted wings, of which 
the hinder ones are the largest, and no sting. Transformation com- 
plete or partial, larva and pupa various. White ants, wood-lice and 
wood-ticks, are almost the only noxious insects of this order, and 
even these do not injure living plants. Many of them destroy other 
insects for their food. 

(5.) Lepidoptera {Butterflies, Sphinges, ami Moths). 

690. These insects have a mouth with a spiral sucking tube; 
wings four, covered with branny scales. Transformation complete. 
The larvae are caterpillars, and have six true legs, and from four to 
ten fleshy prop-legs. Pupa with the cases of the wings and of the 
legs indistinct, and soldered to the breast. 

691. Of the butterflies proper, the forester has not much to com- 
plain. The perfect insects feed upon flowers, and the larvte upon 
vegetable substances. They usually change their skins about four 
times before they come to full size. Their life in the final state is 
brief, and in the splendor of colors they rival sometimes all other 
forms of animal life. 



Classification of Insects : Lepidoptera. 



175 




99. One of the Hawk-moths or 
Sphinp:es (Sesia), in Form of 
perfect Insect. 



692. The Sphinges or hawk-moths 
derive the name "Sphynx" from a 
fancied resemblance of their cater- 9^ 
j^illars, wlieu at rest, to the E^ryptian 
sphynx, supporting themselves up- 
right by their fore-legs. They in- 
clude a peach-tree borer, and some 
other species injurious to trees. We 
present in the margin an engraving 
of the perfect insect, the larva3 of 
which infest the wood of the elm, al- 
ways boring at the base of the trunk, where it unites with the root, 
and appearing to divide the territory with the Cossus, that bores 
only in the trunk. 

693. A night-moth near- ^(^j> 
ly allied with the Bom- "y 
byces, and by some natu- 
ralists classed with them, 
but by others made a sep- 
arate family, named Zeu- 
zeradoe, is very often found 
in Europe upon the horse- 
chestnut. The larva} are 
white, soft and naked, or 
slightly downy, with brown 
horny heads, spots on the 
body, as shown in the en- 
graving, and sixteen legs. 
They are wood-borers, and 
are also very destructive 

to the pear, apple, lilac, and occasionally to the young elms. In 
favorite trees it may be killed by a wire inserted into its burrow, 
the opening of which may be known by the dust that falls out, and 
a violet-colored tinge on its border. The genus to which this be- 
longs is European, and, according to Davis, has not been found in 
this country. We have many others, hov.ever, of closely allied 
forms, and of very destructive nature. 

694. Linnaeus divided the Moths into eight groups, viz. : AUici, 
Bombyces, Noctuce, Geometrce, Tortrices, Pyralides, Tiuecr, and Alucitce. 




100. Zeuzera assculi. 






101. Larva of the Zeuzera. 




176 



Classification of Insects: Lejjidoptcra. 




(Male.) 

102. Bomhyx neustria. 



(Female.) 
(Perfect Insect.) 



The first of these has, by later Daturalists, been merged with others, 
but, with this exception, these groups have been considered as well 
marked, and are geuerally retained. We present a few examples 
of some of these forms. 

695. The Bomhy- 
ces, or spinners, are 
thick-bodied moths, 
with feathered an- 
tennae, at least in the 
males, tongue short 
or wanting, thorax 
woolly but not crest- 
ed, and the larvae 
generally spinners. 
The figures here giv- 
en show one of nu- 
merous species of 
this group. They 
have s o m e t i m c s 
proved exceedingly 
destructive, by eat- 
ing off the leaves of 
trees, while in the 
larva state. We 
here present a view 
of the perfect insect, 
the larvse of which 
prove very destruc- 
tive to the Scotch 
pine. Whole forests 




103. Larva of the Eoinbyx neustria. 




104. Bombyx of tlie Pine. (Female.) 




Classification of Insects: Lepidoptcra. 



177 




lOG Male Moth of the Geom- 
etra hntmnta, one of the 
Span-worms. 



are sometimes laid waste by these devourers. They will even fill 
ditches that have been dug to arrest their progress, and the only- 
way to control them is to collect in winter and burn the mosses in 
which they are concealed. 

696. The Noctuce, or owlet moths, chiefly fly by night, and are 
thick-bodied, swift-flying moths, that do considerable damage to 
vegetation, and some of them live exposed on the leaves of trees 
and shrubs, but the greater part feed only by night. 

697. The Geometrce, or span worms, live mostly in the larva state 
only on the leaves of trees, and undergo their transformation in the 
ground. Their larvae derive their name from their manner of crawl- 
ing, by drawing up the body into an arch, 
and then reaching forward for a new hold. 
When disturbed, they drop by a silken thread, 
till the danger is over, and then climb back 
again to their former place, with a tolerably 
rapid motion, by seizing the thread Avith 
their jaws and forelegs. 

698. The canker-worm female moths are nearly without win^-s, 
and are sluggish in their movements. They in- 
stinctively make their way from the ground where 
they have been hatched towards the nearest trees, 
and slowly creep up the trunks, pairing with their 
winged mates in their ascent. They are chiefly in- 
jurious to the apple and elm trees, but also attack 
the plum, cherry, and lime trees, 
and strip them of the pulj^y part 
of the leaves, leaving the mid- 
ribs and veins remaining. 

699. The Tortricfs, or- leaf- 
rollers, are so called from the 

cylindrical rolls that they form^OS. Larva of the ranker-worm, and the 

-^ -^ Lfiect of Its Ravages. 

around themselves at the close 

of their larva-life. Very fevv of them make cocoons, and most of 
them go through their transformations in their leaf-cases. The moths 
of this tribe are mostly small, and they fold their wings over their 
bodies when at rest, like a steep roof. Most of them when dis- 




107. Female IMoth 
of tlie Chriino- 
bata bruinata. 




178 



Classification of Insects : Jjcpidoptera. 



tiirbed in the larva state will drop by a silk thread like the pre- 



ceding kinds. 




108. Tortrix resinianx. (The Insect at Rest of the Natural Size; 
the Larva and Flying Insect Enlarged.) 

700. The Pyralides are nearly akin to the geometers, and are 
sometimes called delta-moths, from the triangular manner of closing 
their wings. This tribe includes the meal-worms of old flour barrels, 
the grease-moths, the hop-vine caterpillar, etc., but they are not 
particularly injurious to trees. 

701. The Tinecc are chiefly destructive to clothing and household 
stuff, but some of them burrow into leaves, and make winding 
passages in the pulpy substance of plants. 



Classification of Insects : Hyinenoj^tera, Blptera. 179 

702. The Alucitce, or feather-winged moths, is a small tribe of 
not much importance from the injuries done. 

(6.) Hymenoptera (Saw-Flies, Ants, Wasps, Bees, etc). 

703. These are insects with jaAvs, four veined wings in most species, 
the hinder pair being the smallest, and a piercer or sting at the end 
of the abdomen. Transformation complete. Larv^ mostly maa-got 
or slug-like; of some, caterpillar-like. Pupse with the legs and 
wings unconfined. 

704. In the adult state, these chiefly live upon honey, the pollen of 
flowers, and the juices of fruits. As slugs or false caterpillars they 
sometimes injure plants. Some are wood-borers and wood-eaters, 
the pines and firs suftering most. Others cause galls and excres- 
cences upon leaves and twigs, those upon the oak furnishing the nut- 
galls of commerce. On the whole, the injury they do is far more 
than counterbalanced by their benefits, especially in the ichneumon 
flies, which destroy enormous numbers of noxious insects, by 
puncturing their eggs or their larvae, and depositing their own eggs 
within them. 

705. Others lay their eggs in the provisioned nests of other 
insects, whose young are starved by the food being first eaten by 
the earlier-hatched intruders. The larvae in which the ichneumon 
fly has laid its eggs do not at once die. They may even complete 
this stage, and form a cocoon, from which, in due time, an ichneumon 
fly will emerge in place of the original insect. 

706. The wood- wasps, sand-wasps, etc., are predaceous, and feed 
upon other insects. Our honey-bee and the bumble-bee belong to 
this order, and serve a most useful purpose, by conveying the pullen 
from one blossom to another, and thus fertilizing them. 

(7.) DiPTERA (Musquitoes, Gnats, Flies, etc). 
706 J. These are insects with a horny or fleshy proboscis, two 
wings only, and two knobbed threads, called balancers or poisers, 
behind the wings. Transformation complete. Tlieir maggots have 
no feet. These are generally not injurious to trees. The Cecidomy- 
diadce includes the midges, or gall-gnats, whose effects are often seen 
on the leaves of trees, but generally not so as to materially injure 
their growth. The wheat-fly, Hessian-fly, and fruit-flies belong to 
this order. 



180 Insects injurious to Oaks and Elms. 

707. Some writers have assigned the rank of a separate order to 
certain groups that present intermediate or auomak)us characters, 
but for the present purpose the above may be sufficient, and in 
speaking of these orders, ^\e will use the numbers above given, 
instead of their names. 

708. Insects that attach the Oalcs, Of these 223 arc enumerated, 
of which about 38 belong to the 1st class, 9 to the 3d, 103 to 
the 5th, and 04 to the 6th. To the 1st class belong several de- 
structive flat- headed and bark borers, the oak-pruner, a leaf- roller, 
and several species of borers that live in stum23s and decaying 
timber. 

709. The 3d class includes the seventeen-year locust (Ciclda sep- 
temdecem), which spends the interval between its appearance as a 
perfect insect, in the ground, attached to the roots of trees or other 
plants, and when it comes out to breed does considerable damage to 
the twigs or trees by stinging them, for the purpose of depositing its 
eggs. 

710. The 5th class includes the carpenter-moths, whose larv^ 
bore large holes in the wood, acorn- worms, the leaf miners, tent- 
caterpillars, oak-worms, tussock caterpillar, American silk-worm 
(from which silk of good quality may be made), geometer moths, 
and leaf-rollers. 

711. The (3th class includes the gall-flies, that sting the twigs and 
leaves, of which there are many species. Of these something can 
be done to destroy the flat-headed borers, by a])plying soap to the 
trunk, and by cutting in and extracting them. Where branches 
fall, from the work of oak-pruners, they may be gathered and burned, 
to destroy the eggs or insects that are in them. 

712. Insects injurious to the Elms. Of these about 47 are known, 
of which 14 belong to the 1st class, 1 to the 2d, 4 to the 3d, 25 to 
the 5th, and 3 to the 6th. The 1st class includes the elm-tree borer 
(Saperda tr(dentata), bark-borers, and great elm-beetle. The 3d in- 
cludes the gall-louse; the 5th, the canker-worms, span-worms, fall 
web- worms, and American silk-worm, of the same species found 
upon the oak {Telea iwlypheinas) ; and the 6th the saw-flies. 

713. As a remedy against the canker-worm, printer's ink spread 
on tarred i)aper, or the use of troughs filled with oil, or cotton fast- 
ened around the tree, will prevent the females from ascending it. 



Insects injurious to Elms* 



181 



"Web-worm nests can be removed with mops dipped in carbolic acid 
solution or kerosene. 

714. The elm is liable to suffer from a beetle which makes its at- 
tack upon the bark, in the interior and on the under side, and with- 
out showing much appearance externally. The tree will begin to 
languish, apparently while in the full vigor of growth, and, when 
cut down, the bark will in a little while loosen and fall off, disclosing 
a multitude of burrows. 








210.' Perfect Insect of the Scnli/fvs destructor, of natural size above, and enlarged be- 
low: totjethor with the i.arva and Pupa, of natural size and enlarged; and the 
Burrows, under the Bark, made by the IScolytus multistriatus. 



715. A remedy has been proposed by Dr. Eugene Robert, of 
Paris, which consists in shaving off the outer bark down to the liber 
or live bark, from the whole trunk, and on scarifying down to the wood 
the smaller branches, by drawing a sharp, three-bladed hooking in- 
strument (with the middle blade somewhat shorter than the others) 
lengthwise along the surface. This is, of course, an expensive pro- 
cess, and only to be practiced in city parks, and other places where 
the elms are prized as shade trees. It should be done only after the 
summer growth is ended, and before the sap starts in spring. The 
disagreeable color which this process leave?, may be covered up with 
a paint composed of coal tar and yellow ochre, to imitate the natu- 
ral shade of color of the bark. It is not found necessary to burn 
the bark that comes off, unless it contains the perfect insects, for 
the larvre will die without further attention, and the eggs, if they 
should hatch, would find nothing to feed on. 

71G. Insects injurious to the Hickories. Of these 97 species are 



182 Insects injurious to Hickories, Wabiuts, Chestmds, etc. 

enumerated, of ^vliicli about 35 beloug to the 1st class, 1 to the 2(1, 
33 to the 3d, 8 to the 7th, aud the remainder to the 5th. The 1st 
class includes the hickory-borers, twig-girdler, and bark-borers ; the 
2d tlie walking-stick ; the 3d various bark-lice, gall-lice, tree-hoppers, 
phylloxeras, etc; and the 5th the tussock-moth, leaf-rollers, etc. 

717. The 1st class includes various hickory-borers, the most de- 
structive of Avhich is the Scolytus tetraspinosa, affecting the bitternut, 
shell-bark, pig-nut, and probably the pecan. It mines under the 
bark and into the wood of the trunk and branches. The Cyllene 
picta, a borer found in this tree, is the same that proves so destruc- 
tive to the locust. 

718. Insects injurious to the Black Walnut. About a dozen species 
are found on this tree, the most destructive being the borer so in- 
jurious to the locust and the hickory (Cyllene pi eta) . 

719. Insects injurious to the Butternut. About 20 species feed upon 
this tree, of which 2 are of the 1st class, 6 of the 3d, 1 of the 6th, 
and the rest of the 5th. It is comparatively free from injuries, the 
more important ones being bark-lice, hoppers, and scale insects, and 
occasionally the larvse of moths upon the leaves. 

720. Insects injurious to the Chestnut. Of these, 20 are mentioned, 
some being uncertain as to classification. They are chiefly borers, 
that pierce the bark, the wood and the fruit, or leaf-hoppers and 
phylloxeras, that feed upon the leaves. The white ant sometimes 
consumes the interior of chestnut fence-posts, etc., as it also mines 
in the elm, pine and other woods. . 

721. Insects injurious to the Locust. Twenty-two insects are men- 
tioned as infesting this tree, of which by far the most important is 
the locust-borer {Cyllene picta^, which has so effectually destroyed 
the plantations begun with much success in the early history of tree- 
planting in the prairie states. It is a beetle of velvet-black, with 
transverse bands of yellow, and is often found feeding on the blos- 
sonis of the golden-rod. It lays its eggs in the crevices of the bark 
near the roots, in September, and, after mining in the wood in the 
larva state, it comes out a perfect insect in the month of June fol- 
lowing. It appears to have migrated westward, being first noticed 
about 1845 near Chicago, and, in 1863, at Rock Island. Two years 
after it was in Iowa, and it is now common in most parts of that 
state and westward. 

722. In densely planted groves in the eastern states, it chiefly at- 



Insects injurious to Locust, 3Iaples, Cottoniooods, etc. 183 



tacks the outer trees only. Something may be done to save a val- 
uable tree by soaping the trunk in August, or by whitewashing, or 
covering with grafting composition. This tree suffers from several 
leaf miners (against which there is no remedy but hand-picking), 
and several gall-flies and midges. 






111. Larva of the Melolontha, upon the 
Root of ail Acacia. 



112. Pupa of the Melolontha, 
(upper and under sides). 



723. The pods and seeds of the locust are at times inhabited by 
a weevil, and dead locust timber is liable to be consumed by borers 
differing from those that pierce the living trees. 

724. Insects injurious to the Maple. Of these 38 are mentioned, 
including a borer that pierces the solid trunks of sound sugar-maple 
trees (Glycobius speciosas) , the flat-headed borer that is also found 
on the apple tree {Chrysobothris femorata), and various worms — the 
larvae of moths that strip the trees of their leaves. The American 
silk-worm (Telea polyphemus) sometimes attacks the maple, and does 
much damage. 

725. Insects injurious to the Cottonwood. Of these 16 are named, 
chiefly beetles that bore the wood or consume the leaves. There 
are several saw-flies and gall-insects that affect the leaves and 



twigs. 



726. Insects injurious to the Poplars. Of these 36 are named, in- 
cluding borers, span-worms, gall-lice, several leaf-rollers, and miners 
that eat out the soft parts of the leaves. The larvae of the genus 



184 



Insects hijarious to the Poplar, Birch, etc. 



Sciapteron^ a moth mucli like that Avhich iojares the currant-bush 
by boring, lias proved very destructive to the poplars in Nevada and 
in California. One species attacks also the locust, in the latter state. 
The accompanying engraving shows one of the insects that attacks 
the poplars in Europe, and the effect of its ravages. 




113. Ravages (if the Snperdn 
Cfirchnrins upon the Pophir. 
(Insect and Larva of Na- 
tural Sizj.) 



114. The Poplar Twig Borer 
{Saperda ). 



727. Insects that injure the Linden. The basswood has 23 known 
enemies, including borers, inch-worms that consume the leaves, leaf- 
beetles, and leaf-miners. Some of these are the same that feed upon 
the poplars. 

728. Insects that injure the Birch. Of these there are 19, including 
plant-lice, leaf-hoppers, etc., chiefly attacking the leaves. This tree 
is comparatively free from these injuries. 

729. Insects that injure the Beech. Of these 15 are named, chiefly 
eating the leaves. 



Insects injurious to the Willows and Pines. 185 

730. The Willows have 99 species of insects feeding upon their wood 
and leaves, a very large number being gall-insects, plant-lice, and 
leaf-rollers. Of the remaining deciduous species, there is no one but 
that has several insects upon its leaves, or other parts, and there is 
perliaps not one that wholly escapes alive when these are in excess. 

731. We next come to consider the coniferous species, some of 
which suffer severely, especially when their leaves are attacked, 
because these do not put forth new leaves again, as do most of those 
enumerated, and when the leaves are stripped off, the tree must die. 
They can not sprout from the roots, and seldom put forth side 
branches to save life when severely injured. Taken as a whole, 
coniferous forests are much more liable to general ruin when attacked 
than others. 

732. The Pines are liable to attack from about 110 species, of 
which about G2 belong to the 1st class, 16 to the 3d, 21 to the 5th, 
8 to the Gth, and 2 to the 7th. Of the 1st class are many species 
of wood and bark-borers, that are generally more liable to attack 
old trees that have passed their prime. 



y.^ 




115. Pine Weevil (Hylobus 



733. The pine weevil is a very destructive insect, breeding un- 
der the bark, but doing the greatest injury after it has com*.-, to 
the perfect form. It then attacks the young trees, generally those 
of from three to six years of age, eating out the' terminal shoot, the 
buds and the young stems. It is not much inclined to fly, and in 
very hot Aveather, as also in the cool of night, it conceals itself 
among the herbage and litter on the ground. 



186 



Insects injurious to Pines and Spruces. 



734. The white-pine weevil (Pissodes strobl), allied to the species 
here presented, does great damage to the young pines, by eating 







]1G. Pissodcs vntntus. (The I-enptli of tlie Insect is iiiflicated by the 
White Line in the lower left-hand Corner.) 

into the leading shoot. A method is practiced in Europe of de- 
stroying these and other insects of the pine, which consists in stick- 
ing some newly cut branches of the pine-trees 
in the ground, in some open place, at about 
the season when the insects are laying their 
eggs. In a few hours the branches will be cov- 
ered with beetles, which may be shaken into a 
cloth and burned. This is, however, altogether 
impracticable in a forest, and the best check 
upon their increase is provided by nature in the 
ichneumon flies that deposit their eggs in their 
bodies, and thus finally destroy them. The 
accompanying engraving shows the effect of 
these injuries upon the young twigs of the 
pine. 

735. The Spruces suffer very much in the 
same way as the pines, but the number of spe- 
cies noticed is only about a quarter as great. 
Tlie most destructive are the bark and wood- 
117. Effect of Ravnffos of boriug beetles, which although generally a t- 

the //(//e.s'//iU6' upon the j. i • ^ xi x j.i i t i. 

Pine Twig. tackmg trees that are on the decline, appear at 

times nevertheless to bore into perfectly sound and healthy trees. 
The family of coleoptera known as Scolytidce, which may be called 




Insects mjarlous to Spruces and other Conifers. 187 

'' cylindrical bark-beetles," appears to be the most destructive, 
especially the genera Hjlargus, Tomiaus, Seolijtas, Xtjloterus, Bostrl- 
chiis, X'jlohorus, Crijpturgus, etc., as variously described by authors. 

736. They are very small, but occur in immense numbers, and by 
burrowing under the bark, and in the newly formed layer of sap- 
wood, effectually girdle the trees and destroy them. There are 
also various span-worms and larva? of caterpillars, saw-flies, bud 
and leaf-lice, and other insects that feed upon the leaves and 
buds. 

737. The Balsam Fir suffers from the same long-horned beetle that 
proves so destructive to the pines and spruces (Monohammus confusor) , 
and from a saw-fly (class 6), and from the larva? of various moths 
and butterflies. 

738. The Htmloch suffers from borers in the wood, and inch- 
worms upon the leaves, but seldom to much extent. The same may 
be said of the red and white cedars, the junipers, the larch, and 
other conifers. 

739. Very many of these destructive insects have their insect 
enemies, some of them being carnivorous beetles, others mites that 
fasten upon them, or ichneumon flies, that lay their eggs in their 
bodies. It has also been noticed that certain insectivorous birds, 
and especially woodpeckers, will appear in unusual abundance 
in spruce and pine woods infested with bark-boring insects. They 
will even follow the logs of the mill-yards, and persist in their 
search for this food wherever there is opportunity. By protecting 
these birds we may therefore derive much benefit from their aid in 
the destruction of these injurious insects. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

PROCESSES FOR INCREASINO THE DURABILITY OF TIMBER OR FOR 
IMPROVING ITS QUALITY. 

740. In vegetable, as in animal organizations, life itself is gener- 
ally sufiicient to maintain the elements agamst decay while it lasts, 
although in both it inevitably tends to dissolution, with age, if not 
prematurely destroyed. In most kinds of wood the inner portion, 
or heart-wood, is more solid and durable than the newer and softer 
sap wood near the outside. It is gejierally thought that this mature 
wood is no longer a living part of the tree, but simply the old fibers 



188 Processes for Wood-preservation, 

thickened and hardened, by deposit of material peculiar to the spe- 
cies. It is dryer, heavier, and contains less potash than the newer 
wood. Still, an iron tube driven deeply into the heart of a maple 
tree will yield sap, showing that there is circulation to some extent 
still present. In many trees the heart wood may decay without ap- 
parently lessening the vigor of growth. 

741. Many processes have been devised to increase the durability, 
not only of the sap wood, but of the whole tree, either by rendering 
it impervious to moisture, after thorough seasoning, or by neutral- 
izing the tendencies to decay, or by- injecting substances in solution 
that become unalterable and permanent, either by directly uniting 
with the tissues of the wood or by forming new combinations be- 
tween different substances injected into it. 

742. When the pores of wood are filled with other substances of 
an oily or resinous nature, they show^ less tendency to warp or split, 
simply because they do not absorb and give out moisture with the 
changes of atmosphere. 

743. In some of these processes the attempt is made to render 
wood harder, stronger, less combustible, more dense, more flexible, 
or of richer color, or in other \vays more valuable, as well as more 
durable. 

744. Of the tw'o hundred or more antiseptic processes that have 
been recommended for preventing the decay of wood, we can only 
notice the more important.^ They consist generally in torrefication 
of the outside, (Ji* in the injection or absorption of metallic or non- 
metallic salts, of acids and their bases, of essential oils, or of resin- 
ous or oily substances. The chemical action appears to be different, 
according to the process used, the albumen being coagulated in 
some, while insoluble and durable mineral and organic combinations 
are formed in others. Wherever metallic salts are applied in tlic 
preservation of wood, they should be neutral, as an excess of acid 
would act upon the vegetable fiber and destroy it. From the latest 
results of scientific inquiry, it appeals that the real cause of decay 
is probably due to the action of organized ferments, fungi or bacteria, 

1 About 120 American patents are on record and in force at the time of 
writing. We cm not undertake to enumerate them liere; some are not 
worth notice, and the few that we mention are placed in their alphabetical 
order, not because they are better than others, but because they are perhaps 
better known. 



Processes for Wood preservation, 1S9 

which these antiseptic processes tend to destroy, and that those 
methods are most certain that accomplish this result most uniformly 
and effectually throughout the wood. 

745. Charring. — We liave elsewhere noticed the extreme durabil- 
ity of charcoal. By slowly scorching the outside of a post or stake 
before setting it in the ground, its durability is much increased. 
This is sometimes done with the railway ties in Europe, and two 
methods are employed. 

746. By one of them, the stick is laid upon an iron frame, that ad- 
mits of an easy sliding motion in all directions, and a tongue of flame, 
either from a gas-jet or from air blown through flame, is passed over 
every part. By this means the degree of torrefication may be reg- 
ulated at will. The process may be applied to all kinds of wood- 
work, and it may be so managed as not to destroy the sharpness of 
any work upon the surface. 

747. By another process, a long iron tube is filled with flame, and 
railway ties or other wood may be passed slowly through it ou a 
broad iron chain. Piles charred before using will last for a long 
period. It was the practice employed at Venice for the piles on 

■which that city was built. In whatever manner the scorching is 
done, the timber must be first thoroughly seasoned ; if not, it will 
only hasten its decay. 

748. There is an advantage in plunging the wood newly charred 
into coal-tar or melted pitch, or by painting it thoroughly with three 
or four coats of these substances. The charring process is in favor 
upon the Belgian railways. It has the advantage of preventing 
hijuries from gnawing animals or white ants, and hence its value in 
India and other countries where these insects arc destructive, as also 
in the wood work of basements, where there is much humidity, 
without proper ventilation. It is a most effectual remedy against 

the ch'ij rot. 

749. It was formerly customary to slightly char the outside of 
ship timber after it was prepared for framing, but before it was put- 
together. The " Royal William," one of the most long-lived ships 
in the British navy, was thus prepared. The fires used in this pro- 
cess were made of shavings or straw, and accidents would sometimes 

happen. 

750. In some timbers used for railway ties, such as oak, it is not 
easy to inject wdth mineral salts or other antiseptic substances, and 



190 Processes for Wood-presercatlon. 

charring is the best method of preserviog them. After they have 
been used several years, they may be taken up, rasped off, burnt 
over a second time, and again used. The same may be done with 
beecli and other woods, where they have not been thoroughly im- 
pregnated. 

751. By a process invented by M. de Lapparent (18G2) a blow- 
pipe was devised for carbonizing the outside of railroad ties, under 
a flame of common burning gas and air, supplied from separate 
reservoirs, with pipes that unite just as they issue. This process has 
been largely employed at Cherbourg in preparing wood to resist 
decay in the French fleet, and a list of twenty-four vessels is given 
in which this method was used. It has also been employed in Dantzic 
and Pola. 

752. By an apparatus of more powerful construction, patented by 
a French engineer, Hugon, in 1861, the flame is supplied from 
coal-oil. This has been used by the Orleans Railway Company, and 
from four sets of apparatus 288 ties could be prepared in a day, at 
a very low rate, and it is claimed with excellent result. It is also 
used in preparing telegraph poles. It has been thought that the 
preservative qualities obtained by partial charring are at h ast partly 
due to the formation of creosote in the pores of the wood — a sub- 
stance known to be one of the best of antiseptic agents. 

753. By painting well seasoned wood with boiled linseed oil 
thickened with pulverized charcoal, it will last much longer in the 
ground than without this application. The paint should be allowed 
to dry before the posts are set. 

754. A coat of hot coal tar and sand may be applied to posts to 
great advantage before setting them in the ground. The end of 
the wood should especially be well coated, and the covei'ing should 
extend a foot above the ground. It is claimed that this is particu- 
larly valuable when applied to chestnut stakes and posts. 

754. Glauber, in 1657, recommended charring the surface of 
wood, then covering with tar, and immersing in pyroligneous acid. 
He is said to have been the first to recommend the use of tar, which 
in one form or another has since been employed in very many of 
these methods for the preservation of timber. 

755. It is said that green Lombardy poplar absorbs boiling coal 
tar very readily, and acqidres thereby very durable properties. It 
might be tried upon cottonwood and willow, and for s me uses it 



Processes for Wood -preservation. 191 

might prove very effectual. It is even recommended for stakes 
aud posts, which Avithout preparation would speedily decay. The 
wood should be peeled before boiling. 

756. Immersion in Water, or lilacing in Soils jjermanently Wet It 
is well known that piles driven into the soil, or timbers laid in the 
water, or under a wall where it is always damp, and where access 
to the air is wholly prevented, will last for an immense period. 
Wrecks of vessels will thus remain for centuries, and sometimes 
vessels are sunk to preserve them from decay, as was done witli the 
fleet captured by Commodore Perry on Lake Erie, in 1814. It 
remained under water in the harbor at Erie, Pa., for many 
years. Timber is sometimes thus preserved till wanted, or it is 
immersed at certain seasons to protect it from insects that infest 
ship-yards. 

757. Wood that has been long buried or immersed, finally becomes 
black and dense, but it retains its texture. Foundations laid upon 
piles or timbers should of course never be drained, nor should air 
be ever admitted to them from sewers or otherwise. Washino: and 
immersion in sea- water have been recommended. 

758. Penetration of Liquids, and of Solid Substances in Solution. 
This may be secured in a variety of ways, as from simple capillarity 
by immersion in a cold liquid, or by boiling, or by compression at 
one end of a piece of timber still covered with its bark, or by first 
exiiausting the air from the pores, and afterwards admitting liquid 
substances under pressure, or by exposure to antiseptic agents in 
the form of vapor, generally under pressure, or by absorption in tlie 
living trees, by placing liquid substances where they may be taken 
up as the sap is taken up in the vital process of vegetation. 

759. As penetration under pressure after exhaustion of the air, 
first proposed by Breant, is employed in many processes, the method 
may be briefly described, as nearly alike in all. A strong and large 
iron cylinder is constructed, one end of which may be fully opened, 
or strongly closed, at will. Tlie wood usually first wrought into 
shape for use, is placed upon a frame, usually running upon wheels, 
so that it may be easily run into the cylinder and withdrawn with- 
out displacing the wood piled or fastened upon it. The pressure is 
generally supplied by steam, but sometimes by pumps, and its 
amount is shown by a gauge. The exhaustion is sometimes obtained 



192 Processes for Wood-preservation. 

by purnpiug, and at other times by the condensation of stoam, as in 
low pressure steam-engines. 

760. It may be remarked of all methods of injection, that woods 
with an open, porous grain, receive better than those that are solid, 
and that the sap wood is more easily injected than the heart wood. 
The coniferous species, especially the sap wood, if not already full 
of resin, generally afford good results, while the oaks and other 
solid woods can scarcely be injected in their heart wood. It is fur- 
ther found that in wood that has begun to decay the tissues appear 
to be disorganized, so that solutions will not penetrate, even under 
great pressure. Without attempting to classify the various processes 
employed for increasing the durability of timber, we will briefly 
describe some of the more common methods. 

761. Impregnation tvith Oils. This is an ancient process. The 
essential oils were used in w^ooden structures in Kome. Perhaps 
the best is lir;seed oil, or other vegetable fixed oils, in preference to 
animal oils, which cause the wood to become brittle. In India, 
cocoa-nut oil, beaten up with shell-lime, is used as a varnish to plank. 
Our common paints derive their well-known preservative effect 
largely from the oils that they contain, but they should never be 
applied except to wood thoroughly seasoned. Trenails are sometimes 
boiled in oil before using. 

762. Crude Petroleum is found to be an excellent preserving agent, 
and has been employed in ship and house-building with great suc- 
cess. 

763. Common Salt is sometimes put into ships, while building, and 
has the effect of rendering the wood durable. It is liable to be dis- 
solved away, and to cause a corrosion of iron fastenings. It also 
renders vessels damp -and unwholesome, and if in excess, it swells 
the tissues by the crystals that form in drying. The method of 
salting is required by lake underwriters in new first-class vessels, 
and it is recommended by the American Lloyds.^ 

^" The mode of saltino; is to fix stops of boards between the timbers of 
the frames about the hei<;ht of the load-line, and when the ceiling and plank- 
ing are worked and tlie plank-shear ready to go into place, the spaces 
between the timbers are filled with salt. Near the end of the vessel the salt 
is sometimes put between the frames, quite down to the dead wood. A 
vessel of 500 tons will take 100 barrels of salt applied in the usual manner." 
( IV. W. Bales, Ag. Rep. LSGG.) 



Processes for Wood-preser cation. 193 

76:1. Iiicomhastlble Wood. Experiments have been made by order 
of the English Admiralty, to test a process of Dr. Jones for render- 
ing wood incombustible, by the use of the tungstate of soda, a salt 
obtained by the action of muriatic acid and common salt upon the 
tungstate of lime (scheelite). 8oft woods are said to be rendered 
solid and durable/ 

765. Alum tends to render wood incombustible, and claims have 
been asserted in favor of its antiseptic properties, while others have 
found that it tends to hasten decay. The soluble nature of alum 
would render it improper for use where exposed to the rains, but 
its well-established properties for resisting ignition may render it 
worthy of notice for inside work. 

76G. Borax. It has been proposed to saturate wood with borax, 
by immersing and gradually heating to a boiling point, and leaving 
for half a day. The wood is then piled, and after a time again 
boiled for less time in a weaker solution. It is claimed that this 
renders wood less combustible, and the process does not discolor it. 

767. Lime appears to render wood durable, as we see in the boards 
used for mortar-beds. M. Lostal, a French contractor, has proposed 
to place wood in a large basin or receiver, and cover it with a layer 
of fresh-buried lime, which is watered by degrees till it slacks. 
Water is then let in till the wood is covered, and it is allowed to 
stand for some time. It gives a hardness, and it is claimed a dura- 
bility worthy of notice. It also tends to render wood less liable to 
ignition. 

768. Sulphate of Iron. It is well known that copperas or green 
vitriol will tend to increase the durability in woods, and the lasting 
qualities of vessels engaged in the coal trade of England are attrib- 
uted to the pyrites which all English coals contain, and which form 
this salt by exposure to the air and to moisture. The pieces formino- 
parts of carriage-wheels and other wooden structures, when fitted 
for putting together, are sometimes boiled three or four hours in a 
solution of this salt, and then placed for some days in a warm place 
to dry. It is not corrosive to iron, and nails driven into it ivill last 
as long as the wood itself."^ 

^Revue des Eaux et Foreis, 1874, p. 302; 1875, p. 143. 

^Prof. F. W. Clarke id notioinor the disa;i;ree!neiit in statements concern- 
ing: this substance remarks : "At all events, it has had less thoioujihiy than 
some other more fashionable preservatives, the test of long experience. It 



194 Processes for Wood-preservation. 

769. The Bethell Process was patented by Mr. John Bethell, in 
England, July 11, 1838. It consists in subjecting seasoned timber, 
under pressure, to creosote or oil of tar and other bituminous sub- 
stances that contain it, and also to pyrolignite of iron, which holds 
more creosote in solution than any other watery menstruum. While it 
unquestionably renders wood much more durable, and also proof against 
the attack of worms in sea-water, it has the disadvantage of ren- 
dering it more combustible, and of offensive odor. We have known 
a bridge frame set on fire and consumed while under construction, 
by a workman attempting to burn out a hole through two pieces in 
contact, so as to allow a bolt to fit. 

770. Creosote coagulates the albumen, fills the pores of timber 
with a bituminous substance, prevents the absorption of water, and is 
obnoxious to animal life. By a patent of 1853, Bethell proposed to 
first inject timbers with metallic salts, and after thorough drying, 
inject creosote. He used about 10 pounds of creosote to a cubic 
foot. It is sometimes carried to twice this amount. It has been 
most used on pines, and for railway ties, and enormous quantities of 
the latter have been sent to India and other hot climates. It is 
also largely used for piles, docks, and bridge timbers. 

771. The pressure employed varies from 150 to 200 pounds to 
the inch, and the liquid is heated to 120° (Fahr.), and admitted 
after the air has been exhausted. The cost varies widely, but aver- 
ages perhaps 7 to 8 cents a cubic foot. Railway ties that are half- 
round last longer when thus prepared than those that are sawn 
square, and a fine open sand is best for ballast. It is found that 
ties that have been creosoted are stronger and better able to resist a 
crushing weight than before, but sometimes in India they have suf- 
fered from the white ants. 

772. The Boucherie Process. In December, 1837, Dr. Auguste 
Bouchcrie, t)f Bordeaux, France, proposed the injection of antise[)tic 
fluids through the natural circulation of the living tree. He suc- 
ceeded in the use of the sulphates and the acetates of copper, of 
iron, and of zinc, the bi-chloride of mercury, a»'senious acid, and 
the arseniate of potash, and in some cases of several of these in 
succession. Of odorous substances, he procured the absorption of 

was recommended b}' Stratzlsl in ISiU, Earle in 18 to, and Apelt in 1853. 
Bohl . . . has employed it siimiUaiicously with creosote." 



Processes for Wood-preservation. 105 

camphor, the essential oils of lemon, bergamot, orange, lavender, 
and rosemary ; and of coloring materials a neutral sulphate pre- 
pared from indigo, and an aqueous solution of the coloring principle 
of yellow-wood. Of resinous substances, he procured a considerable 
absorption of spirits of turpentine, both pure and crude. By intro- 
ducing the chlorides of lime and magnesia, he proposed to give an 
unnatural elasticity and flexibility to wood : by using the deliques- 
cent salts, he sought to render it incombustil)le; and finally, by 
using various solutions that give precipitates the base of which is 
Silica, he attempted to secure a kind .of 2)etrification. 

773. He at first gave preference to the pyrolignite of iron, ob- 
tained by exposing scraps of iron to the action of the crude acetic 
acid obtained from wood by distillation. He afterwards abandoned 
this for the solution of sulphate of copper, and instead of absorption 
by the living tree, lie injected the wood as follows : 

774. The logs still full of sap and with the bark still on, were 
placed upon skids, and a collar fitted closely to one end. The solu- 
tion was then forced through the pores, either by pumps or by hy- 
drostatic pressure, the wood being still fresh and full of sap. It is 
found that solid woods, like the cherry, oak, etc., will not receive 
the solution in the heart-wood, and that the process affords but par- 
tial benefit; while in other kinds the success is very great, the 
woods thus prepared lasting two, three, and even five times longer 
as railway ties, and f )r other like exposures, than that which has 
not been treated. This process has been largely ustd in France, 
and its inventor, unlike many discoverers, realized its benefits in 
his lifetime. He died in 1871, leaving quite a fortune acquired 
from his patents. 

775. This process has been also much employed in Belgium 
Germany, and Switzerland, in preparing fir timbers for telegraph 
poles, and many other uses. After injection, the wood should be 
seasoned before using, which it does very readily, becoming quite 
light and portable. It is claimed that the sulphate of copper be- 
comes fixed in the wood, somewhat like the mordant in dyes, so as 
not to dissolve out in fresh water, although in sea water it appears 
to gradually lose its antiseptic qualities by prolonged exposure. 
The amount of this salt absorbed is found to be notably diminished 
by the presence of iron, or of certain saline solutions, or of carbonic 



196 Processes for Wood preservation, 

acid. It is less adapted to dry wood than to that newly cut, If, in- 
deed, it is not limited to the latter.^ 

77G. It is found that the sulphate of copper penetrates with great 
difficulty into oak, the ends only absorbing to some extent along the 
spongy layers of the spring growth, while the hard layers of wood 
formed later in the season do not absorb the least. Elm will absorb 
very well, excepting in the close firm knots. Beech will admit of 
very complete penetration in every part. Pine will absorb only in 
the sap wood. Locust wholly resists penetration. Ash is in about 
the same class with oak, and so is the chestnut. Birch, when sea- 
soned, may be prepared very well, and poplar the most completely 
of all. 

777. The Burnett Process. This was first brought to notice be- 
tween the years 1838 and 1840 by Sir William Burnett, formerly 
Director General of the Medical Department of the British Navy. 
It consists in an injection of the chloride of zinCy at the rate of 1 
pound to 9 or 10 gadons of water, under a pressure of 150 pounds 
to the inch. This salt, although soluble, does not easily come out 
when exposed to the weather or buried in the ground. It is claimed 
to render wood uninflammable. The cost is about 6 to 8 cents a cubic 
foot. Extensive works have been constructed for the preparation of 
wood by this process, and very favorable testimonials have been of- 
fered in its favor. A concentrated solution is sold at 5s. per gallon 
in London, to be diluted with 40 gallons of water for use by this 
process, with instructions and license to use. 

778. By Carey's Process (1829), a mixture of salt powdered char- 
coal and animal or vegetable oil is introduced into timber by holes 
in various parts, and the holes are then closed. Various patents 
have been granted for inserting preservative substances in the wood, 
such as coal tar and pulverized mineral substances, more or less 
soluble and antiseptic in their nature. 

779. The Ilatzfeld Process. From the fact that oak timbers buried 
in contact with ochres and the salts of iron acquire great durability, 
apparently from the reaction between the tannin of the wood and 
iron, Mr. H. proposes to inject various woods with tannic acid, and 
then with the pyrolignite of iron, thus assimilating the wood to the 

. 1 Haist, in Dirr^ler's Polytechnic Journal, 1801, Vol. 162, p. 397. See ib., 
1851, Vol. 120, p. 140; 123, p. 223. 



Processes for Wood-preservation. 197 

condition of oak long buried. It is claimed to be particularly 
serviceable for mining timbers and the like, much exposed to moist- 
ure, ajid therefore liable to decay. It is understood that this process 
is being largely adopted by the Eastern Railway in France and by 
tlie telegraph service, under the co-operation and authority of the 
Ministry of the Interior. 

780. The Hoidin and Boutigmj Process, aims to hermetrically close 
the ends of the wood, so as to neutralize the property of absorbing 
moisture. This might be done, either by covering with some hydro- 
carbon, as, for example, coal oil, or by charring the end, and then 
plunging it, while hot, in a melted mixture of pitch, tar, an,] gum- 
lac, or by covering the whole piece with tar in the usual manner. 

781. TJie Kijanizing Process. On the olst of March, 1832, Mr. 
John H. Kyan took out an English patent for a process for prevent- 
ing timber from decay, by penetrating the tissues with a soluti( n 
of the bi-chloride of mercury, or "corrosive sublimate."^ This was 
done by placing the timber in large tanks, so that it could not float, 
and then submerging it with the solution for about a week. It was 
afterwards found necessary to apply pressure, equal to about 100 
pounds to the inch. The strength of the solution was finally fixed 
at about 1 pound to 15 gallons of water, although as strong as 1 
pound to 2 gallons had been used. 

782. There appear to be still conflicting facts for and against tliis 
method, and although formerly much practiced, it is now seldom 
used. The value of corrosive sublimate as a wash to kill dry-rot, 
and to prevent insect injuries in wood, had been long known, and it 
is still employed by botanists for preserving dried specimens from 
insects. Its agency as an antiseptic was ascribed to the coagulation 
of albumen in the tissues of the wood, and perhaps the differences in 
effect were due to the greater or less abundance of this material in 
the wood, or in permeability of the pores by which it could be 
reached. The principal objections against this process were its ex- 
pense and the exceedingly poisonous nature of the material used, 
which rendered it dangerous to the health of the workmen em- 
ployed. 

783. The Margary Process, patented in England iu 1838, consists 
in immersing iu a solution of acetate or sulphate of copper. 

^This material had been proposed by Knowles and Davy in 1821, but not 
practically applied. In 18 i7, LeLellier proposed to use it with gelatine. 



198 Processes for Wood-preseroation. 

784. The Payne Process, patented in England in 1841. This con- 
sists in using two solutions, one after the other, and both soluble, 
but forming an insoluble substance within the wood. The earthy or 
metallic solution is first introduced under pressure ; after which the 
decomposing fluid is forced in. The sulphate of iron and carbonate 
of soda are said to form the insoluble compound in the pores of the 
wood. He tried a mixture of the sulphate of barium or of calcium 
■with the sulphate of iron, and various other compounds. The pro- 
cess was costly and imperfect, and is now abandoned.^ 

785. Bjj Preehth Process (1822) the wood is first exposed to the 
vapor of water alone, and then to that of a mixture of tar and 
water. 

786. The Robbim's Process ^ consists in first removing the surface 
moisture of the wood by heat, and then thoroughly impregnating 
and saturating the pores and fibers by oleaginous vapors, as of coal- 
tar, resin, or other substances, the temperature being from 212° to 
250° (F.) for the former, and about 300° or more for the latter part 
of the process. 

787. The Tait Process consists in saturating the pores of the wood 
with a concentrated solution of bi-sulphate of lime or baryta, the 
same being rendered soluble by an excess of sulphuric acid gas under 
pressure, or by refrigeratijn, and being made insoluble as a neutral 
sulphate, when the pressure or excess of gas is removed. 

788. The Thllmaruj Process'^ consists in saturating the wood first 
with a solution of the sulphate of "copper, followed by one of the 
muriate of barytes, the intention being to form an insoluble sulphate 
of barytes within the wood. 

789. The following application has been recommended as valuable 
in a German journal : " Melt 12 pounds of resin, and add 12 pints 
of whale oil and 3 pounds of sulphur; mix an ochre of the color 
desired, mix very thoroughly in oil, and add. Apply at first a 
light coat white hot, and in two or three days, when well dried, a 
second and a third one." This is intended for fences and other 
wood- work much exposed. 

1 Boston City Docs. No. 100, 1873 ; in a Prize Essay by Prof. F. W. Clarke, 
p. 15. 

■^Patents were taken out by Louis S. Robbins, April 4, 18G5; April 27, 
18G0; July 20, t875, and Dec. 21, 1880. 

3 Patented by W. Thlhnany, May 2"., 1876. 



Production of Turpentine, etc. 199 

790. The following recipe is from Diuglei^'s Polytechnic Journal, 
and is intended lor piles and posts : " Take 50 parts of rosin, 40 of 
finely powdered chalk, 300 (more or less) of fine white sharp sand, 
4 of linseed oil, 1 of native red oxyde of copper, and 1 of sulphuric 
acid. First heat the resin, chalk, sand, and oil, then add the oxyde 
and with care the acid ; stir carefully, and apply as a paint while 
still hot. It' not liquid enough, add oil." This coating when cold 
and dry is very hard, and it is claimed to be very durable. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

RESINOUS AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF CONIFERS. 

Naval Stores. 

791. This term, as used in commerce, includes the several resinous 
products of pine forests, and particularly the oil or spirits of tarpeji- 
tine, distilled from crude turpentine ; rosin, or the solid residuum of 
this distillation ; tar, obtained by the combustion of resinous woods 
or refuse materials, containing resin, in smothered fires, or their ex- 
posure to heat externally applied, and pitch, which diflfers chiefly 
from tar in beino* solid when cold. 

792. Formerly, crude turpentine was an article of commerce, and 
its distillation was carried ou in large establishments near the cen- 
ters of trade ; but in recent years local distilleries have been erected 
near the forests where the raw material is collected, and the products 
are sent to market prepared for use. 

TJie Production of Turpentine and other Resinous Materials. 

793. When we cut through the bark into the outer wood of a 
pine, a fir, or a spruce tree,^ in the spring or earl}^ summer, there 
slowly exudes from the wound a viscid and at first colorless and 
transparent substance, known in the pine as " turpentine." Upon ex- 
posure to the air, it absorbs oxygen and becomes whitish, opaque, and 
solid. When distilled with a little water, the volatile portion passes 
off with the vapor, and wlicn condensed, it separates and becomes 
a limpid, volatile, and strongly scented liquid, known as the spirits 
of turpentine. The portion not volatile, and remaining in the still, 

^The Taxiis does not have repiniferoiis canals in its wood. They are found 
in the genera Cedruft, Alncs, Pinns, Larix, Picca, Pseiidolarix, Thuja, Pinus, 
Cupressits, Biotia, Araucarin, etc., both in the root and stem. 



200 Production of Tarpentine in the Southern States, 

hardens on cooling, and becomes a more or less translucent and 
sometimes almost transparent solid, of various shades of yellow and 
brown, known in commerce as " rosin." 

794. Both of these products are of important use in the arts, the 
f >rmer being much used in the preparation of varnishes, india- 
rubber goods, patent leather, etc., and in painting. It is an ingre- 
dient in "camphine" and otlier burning fluids, and is employed in 
medicine. Kosin is largely used in the manufacture of soap, can- 
dles, paper, sealing-wax, and a vast variety of other articles, and 
when it can be cheaply procured, it makes an excellent illuminating 
gas. Before the late war, many villages and c'ties were lighted by 
gas made wholly from rosin, but the high prices that this event 
occasioned made it necessary to substitute the cannel-coals. 

795. In former times, turpentine was produced to a limited extent 
from the yellow or Norway pine (Pliius resiiiosa), and the pitch 
pine (P. rigidd), in the Middle and Eastern States; but the chief 
source of supply within the United States is now almost wholly de- 
rived from the long-leaved or yellow pine (P. audralis) of the 
Southern States. 

796. The " Pine Belt" extends from a little south of the Koanoke 
river, in North Carolina, through that State, South Carolina, Geor- 
gia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, into the edge of Texas. 
It is also found extensively in Florida. This belt is generally from 
50 to 150 miles from the coast, and of variable width, the borders 
being often not sharply defiiicd, and the whole blended more or less 
with other trees. Sometimes it occurs in detached masses of consid- 
erable extent. The differences that occur in its distribution within 
these limits will probably be found due to geological causes. 

797. The " Pine Belt," where it begins on the north, is about fifty 
miles wide, but as it extends further south and west it widens in 
some places to twice this width. This species thrives best on mod- 
erately hilly, dry, and sandy soils. In level regions with a retentive 
sub-soil it does not succeed as well as other species. 

798. The mode of procuring turpentine, as heretofore and at 
present practiced, is wasteful and destructive, as compared with pro- 
cesses we will presently describe, and is generally as follows : 

799. In winter the trees are " bjxed," by cutting a hole in the 
side, about three inches wide, six inches deep, and twelve inches 
long, near the foot of the tree, forming a cavity that will hold about 



Production of Turpentine: Improved Methods, 201 

three pints. The turpentine begins to flow early in the spring, and 
continues till towards the end of summer. The incisi jns are en- 
larged and extended higher up, about once in a week or ten days, and 
sometimes two or three " boxes " are cut in the same tree. Tlie 
crude turpentine is dipped out of the boxes, and scraped off from 
the trees from time to time, and now the greater part is distilled 
near the forests, and the refined products sent from thence to the 
markets. 

800. In North Carolina, the turpentine is collected about once a 
month, and 10,000 trees Vvill in a good season yield 50 barrels of 
spirits of turj^entine, and 200 barrels of rosin. In other regions, 
the trees are cut from twenty to thirty times in a season, and yield 
from eight to ten dippings. A man will "chip "from 10,000 to 
12,000 boxes in a week, as a task. From 1,000 boxes they dip 
from three to five barrels, of 280 pounds each. 

801. The yield per box in soft turpentine is from ten to twelve 
pounds, or twenty to twenty-five to the tree of usual size. A barrel 
of crude turpentine will yield five gallons of spirits of turpentine^ 
and from sixty-two to sixty-five per cent of its bulk in rosin. The pro- 
duct of the first year yields a fine light resin, and it grows darker 
from year to year. A still of forty barrels capacity, will distill the 
crude product of about 350,000 boxes. 

802. Turpentine is produced to advantage only in a warm cli- 
mate, and in a given place, to better advantage in hot and humid 
seasons than in those that are cold and dry. 

803. Trees exposed to the air and the sun yield better than those 
that are crowded and shaded, and those with a well developed top 
and well set with branches much better than those with thin and 
light foliage. 

801. By the improved methods now in use in Europe, and 
especially in the south-western part of France, the production of 
crude turpentine (there obtained from the Flnus jnnaster, or " mari- 
time i)ine") is continued many years without killing the trees, and 
by the following method: 

805. In winter the rough bark is smoothed ofl^ Math a drawing- 
knife, and as spring approaches, a light incision is made, four or 
five inches wide and about fifteen inches long, through the bark and 
a little into the outer wood. This is done with a sharp instrument 
having a convex edge. At the bottom a lip of zinc is driven in, 



202 



French Method of procuring Turpentine. 



and under this a small eartliern jar, glazed on the inside and shaped 
like a ti()wer-})ot, is jjlaced. 

80(3. About once a week the cutting is renewed, by taking off a 

thin slice of wood a little deeper 
and an inch or two higher up, 
and this is renewed through the 
nrf/i/ ^'^^^ season, and from year to 
Ir'/l '' / y^^^'- There are two or more of 
i/////// these incisions on each tree, but 
^^^{\V/fA never wider than at first begun. 
/«/,/, They are carried up till they are 
twelve or fifteen feet high, but 
there is always left a strip of 
bark, at least as wide, between 
them. Gradually the wood grow- 
ing only under this bark, will close 
over the incisions, generally leav- 
ing a deep crevice to show its 
place. This wood is again cut 
into long, narrow bands as be- 
fore, and so for a long period. 
807. The general growth of the 

118. The Maritime Pine {Pinus pinaster). . iiii,,i v- 

tree is checked, but the quality 
of the wood improved by this process. It appears to hasten its 
maturity, and it no doubt shortens its life ; but such trees are kept 
in production from the age of twenty years till they are fifty or sixty 
years old. It is, however, generally more profitable to cut them 
when of good size for timber, to make room for those that are com- 
ing up from self-seeding, and that will be more productive. 

808. As the incisions extend up, the eartheru jars are hung 
higher up, and they are emptied from time to time. The whitish 
opaque incrustation is scraped off in the fall, and the jars are left 
bottom upwards at the foot of the tree till spring. The work of 
''resinage" is commonly done upon shares, and a division is made 
between the proprietor and the "resineur," after the sales are made. 
Up to a certain price, the division is equal, but at high rates the pro- 
prietor receives the greater share of the profits. 




Tar -making : Pitch: Lamp-hlack, etc. 



203 



Tar-mamifadure. 
809. In making charcoal from highly resinous woods, tar is pro- 
duced, in notable quantities ; and for collecting this a circular floor 
of masonry is prepared, sloping to a central point, from whence it 
flows out through a pipe into a reservoir on one side from which it 
may be dipped. 




119. Foundation of a Tar-kiln, in which a, rl, U a sloping brick or stone hearth, 
with a grating at d, throiigli which the lar passes, and is conducted by tiie 
pipe, b, to the reservoir, c. 

810. By a more slovenly and wasteful process, the tar is allowed 
to ooze out into gutters in the soil, and is led from these into barrels 
sunk iu the ground. 

811. In the more refined methods of tar-making, the knots, resin- 
ous wood, or refuse products of the turpentine works are put into 
large iron receivers set in masonry, so that heat may be applied ex- 
ternally by fire in an arch. A pipe leads from the bottom of these 
receivers for carrying off the tar. Another pipe, near the top, 
conducts away the volatile portions, which are condensed, as in 
common distillation. 

812. Ptteh is simply tar boiled down till it will become solid when 
cold. Its principal use is in ship- building, for rendering the seams 
under water and the rigging exposed to the weather impervious to 
water. It is also used in roofing and elsewhere for similar pur- 
poses. 

813. Lamp-blach is the smoke of resinous woods, or of the refuse 
strainings of rosin. When these are burned, the smoke is passed 
into the chambers lined with coarse cloths, which allow the gases to 
escape, but intercept the carbonaceous portion, which is collected 
from time to time. 

814. Canada Balsam is obtained from the blisters that form iu tlie 
bark of the Abies balsamea, or balsam-fir, found growing in the 
swamps of the N^rtliera Siatos and in Canada. It is usyd medicin- 
ally, and is an Oihcinal article in the pharmacopoeias. Among other 



204 Perfame from Pine- Sap. 

officinal resinous products of conifers may be mentioned Burgundy 
pitch, from Abies excelsa, or Norway spruce ; Canada pitch, from the 
Tsu ja Caaa leiisls, or liemlock; Venice turpsntine, from the Larix 
Europea, or larch; gum sandarac, from the CalUtiis quadrivalvis ; 
frankincense, from the Puius tedla, etc. 

815. Various essential oils are distilled from the leaves of the 
hemlock, cedar, savin, juniper, spruce, and other evergreens, and 
are used medicinally. It is probable that amber is a resinous pro- 
duct of a coniferous tree, although found only in a fossil form. 
Kauri is the resin of the Dcimmcira amtralis, but gathered only from 
the soil formerly covered by forests of the kauri pine of New Zealand. 

Perfume from Pine Sap. 

816. A perfume resembling that from the vanilla bean, and ap- 
plicable to the same uses, has in recent years been obtained from 
the sap of the pine and other conifers. The substance has been 
called coniferui, and is collected and prepared as follows : 

817. As the trees are cut down in the summer months (about 
June 1 to August 15), the bark is taken off, and the sap or cambium 
is scraped off from the trunk with some sharp instrument, wiped 
off upon a sponge and squeezed into a tin pail. A tree of vigorous 
growth and medium size will yield from four to five litres of sap 
(about as many quarts), and where the soil is damp and fertile 
nearly twice as much. It is greater when gathered in warm damp 
weather than when it is cold and dry. 

818. The sap, when first collected, is milky and clouded, and 
more or less mixed with impurities, and it contains a kind of glu- 
cose, albumen, and coniferin. It would soon ferment and spoil, and 
must be strained, after l;oiling ten or fifteen minutes, to coagulate 
the albumen. It is then evaporated down to one-fifth of its volume, 
when it is clear and of a yellowish color. It is then set aside over 
night in a cool place, when little white crystals of coniferin will de- 
posit. These are separated by straining and pressing otit the liquid 
through cloths. 

819. A person will collect about three to four pints in a day. 
The price of the dry crystalline substance, as prepared in the forest, 
is about $18.60 to the pound avoirdupois. The forest of Murat, in 
France, furnishes from twenty-five "lo forty pounds a year. The 
coniferin is taken to Paris, and there, in chemical laboratories, it is 



Use of Wood in Paper-making. 205 

converted into the material so highly prized for flavoring and 
perfume. 

CHAPTER XX. 

USE OF WOOD IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER. 

820. In recent years, the employment of wood for paper has 
come into extensive use, both in Europe and America. For this 
purpose it must first be reduced to pulp, and mixed with a certain pro- 
portion of rags. The chief kinds used in this country are the poplar 
and the spruce, and in Europe, besides these, various pines and the 
white birch. The wood should be worked up fresh, and in preparing it 
the bark and defective or rotten parts must be first taken off. There 
are two principal methods of reducing wood to pulp — the mechan- 
ical and the chemical ; and each of these is subdivided into several 
distinct processes. 

821. By the more common of the former, known as the ** Volter 
Process," from Henry Volter, of Wurtemburg, who first brought 
it into successful use,^ the wood is ground into pulp upon the edge 
of broad and large grindstones running vertically in water, the wood 
being pressed firmly down sideways of the grain, by automatic 
screws, at four or five places. The feed is about an inch in five 
minutes, and the speed about 200 revolutions in a minute. 

822. Of course the power required to run such machines is very 
great. The wood is sometimes boiled or steamed before grinding, 
and the pulp is screened through fine wire cloth, and the coarser 
parts ground with water between mill-stone like those for grinding 
grain. This process began to be successfully used about 1846, and 
is largely used, both in Europe and the United States. 

823. By the " Hartmaun Process" the wood is ground between 
two smaller vertical stones, the approach being secured by a weight. 
By the '* Siebrecht Process" the grinding is done upon a great hori- 
zontal stone, and the wood is held down by hydraulic pressure. 
There are other processes by which the wood is sawn into short 
lengths, and then crushed under heavy rollers, or the fibers are torn 

^ The inventor of this process was F. G. Keller, who took out a patent in 
Germnnj', in 1844, for a wood-pulp jrrindinq: machine, but not haviny;the cap- 
ital sold out his interest. H^ afterwards fell into indigence and was aided 
by a subscription among the German paper-makers. 



206 Use of Wood in Paper-making. 

obliquely off by saws, and in both of these the wood is ground In a 
mill before being used. 

821. By the chemical process, which is more recent and more 
costly, but which produces a better result, the wood is first cut into 
short chips by heavy revolving planes, and then macerated in large 
aud strong boilers, with caustic soda, and under a pressure of 10 or 12 
atmospheres. By the "Sinclair Process" this is done in upright 
boilers. By the " Lee Process " it is done in larger boilers, that are 
horizontal. By the "Fry Process" water alone is used, under a 
pressure of 5 or 6 atmospheres, and saw-dust is thus made avail- 
able as a material. The product is a brown pulp, and used for wrap- 
ping paper only. 

825. Wood-pulp is chiefly used for making wrapping and news- 
paper, wall-papers, and the like. It is sometimes used for envelopes, 
but as at present made it is scarcely proper for writing-paper, nor 
for the grades required in finer book-work. But the consumption for 
these is enormous, and constantly increasing, and these industries 
are here noticed chiefly as aflbrding a profitable business in forest 
culture. 

826. We have elsewhere (p. 90) noticed the strong tendency of 
poplars to come up as second growth where pines have been cut 
away, and where the soil has been injured by forest fires, so as to be 
unprofitable for the cultivation of common field crops. When pro- 
tected, such poplar groves properly thinned out grow rapidly, and 
in from ten to fifteen years will be fit to cut for paper-pulp. They 
will readily reproduce themselves from sprouts, and the cuttings 
should be so arranged, if possible, that the trees be kept at the same 
ao"e, and be cut off" down to the limit of smallest available size in 
the same year. 

827. Saw-dust of red-cedar is used in the coarse thick paper 
placed under carpets, upon the theory that it will prevent injuries 
from moths. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

TANNING MATERIALS. 

828. Supplies of material for tanning leather are derived from 
the forests, chiefly in the form of bark, or their extracts; but oc- 
casionally other materials are used, such as valonia, or the acorn- 
cups of an oak (Qaercus mjiloppi), growing in Greece and Asia-Minor, 



Tannivg Ifatcrials. 2GT 

nut-galls from the Levant, the leaves of the sumac, and extracts 
prepared from various herbaceous plants. The tanning principle is 
not often found in the wood, nor in plants having poisonous quali- 
ties or milky juices, and as a general rule it is greater in the bark 
of young oak trees than of old ones, and more in a deep rich soil 
than in trees grown upon sterile land. 

829. The principal supply of oak-bark used in Europe for tanning 
purposes is from the Qiiereus pedunculata and Q. sessUifoUa, the 
common English oaks. The relative value of different barks used 
in England for tanning is about as follows: Oak-coppice, 300; chest- 
nut, 243; birch, 162; mountain ash, 125 ; larcli, 131. The spruce 
also furnishes some tanning material, and is used with oak. By 
peeling, oak-coppice wood looses about one-eight part of its volume. 

830. In the Northern States, the principal bark used comes from 
the hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis), and immense quantities of timber 
have been wasted by being left after peeling to rot on the ground. 
This wasteful practice is still continued in some places. In the 
southern part of Pennsylvania, in Maryland, and southward, as 
also in many parts of the Western States, and to less extent in 
New England and New York, the red or black oaks have furnished 
most of the barks used for tanning. 

831. Tanning-extract is prepared by grinding the bark, leeching 
out the tannin with hot water, and evaporating in vacuum-pans down 
to the consistence of syrup. In this state it is sent to market in 
barrels and sold by the j^ound, 

832. When oak is grown in coppices in Europe, for the pro- 
duction of tan-bark, the coppices may be cut on damp soils (where 
the bark tends to become covered with mosses, and to become rouo-h), 
at the age of fifteen years. As a general rule, however, it is al- 
lowed to grow about twenty years. In older trees the rough corky 
bark is of but little value. The best comes from trees in a healthy 
growing condition, with a thick juicy liber, and that are cut in the 
spring before the leaves have expanded. 

833. In peeling oak-coppice, the workmen endeavor to take it as 
fiir as they can from the standing tree. If young trees are left a 
short time after felling, the bark becomes adherent, and the process 
difficult. The work of peeling is most easily carried on in warm 
humid weather, and is interrupted by cold, dry winds. The upper 
part and branches peel easier than the main trunk, and they save 



208 Tanning Materials : Nomaison Process, 

the bark of all that can be obtaiued. It is first exposed to the 
sun, with the inside up, for a short time, and is then piled with the 
outer side up until dry. It is estimated that the trees yield about 
five per cent of their weiglit in bark, and that the latter looses 
about one-third of its weight in drying. 

834. Oak bark is much injured by rains, and even when care- 
fully dried and housed it deteriorates by keeping. Quercitron (the 
bark of Q. coccinea) used for dyeing yellow, and for tanniug, is usu- 
ally ground and sold in sacks. Oak wood, when peeled, is used for 
various manufacturing purposes, and for firewood and charcoal. 

The Peeling of Oak Bark by the aid of Seat. 

835. The inconvenience of crowding the work of peeling into a 
busy season of the year, has led to the introduction of a process in 
Europe, by the aid of which this work can be done at all seasons 
of the year. It is known from the inventor as the ^^Nomaisoa Pro- 
cess." The apparatus consists of several large iron receivers of thin 
plate iron, strong enough to bear a moderate strain, and air-tight. 
The wood is placed in these, and steam at about 170° centigrade 
(338° Fahr.) is admitted from a boiler so placed as to serve several 
of these receivers. They hold about half a cord each, and the 
time required varies from an hour and a half to two hours and a 
half, according to the season when the wood is cut. It is then taken 
out and peeled. If the heat is continued too long, the bark again 
becomes adherent. 

836. One great advantage to be gained by this process in the 
working of coppice- wood is, that it is not necessary to cut the wood 
at the season when the greatest injury is done to the stumps that 
are to send up a new growth. Careful experiments have been 
made by order of the French and Prussian governments upon the 
quality of the bark thus peeled, with favorable results. It is men- 
tioned in this connection as of interest with respect to the future 
supplies of bark for tanning, as our native woodlands that furnish 
this material become scarce. 

Sumac. 

837. The leaves of the sumac contain a tanning material much 
used in dyeing, and in tanning light leather, and from six to ten 
thousand tons are imported into the United States annually from 



Cultivation of the Sumac. 209 

Europe — chiefly from Sicily — for these uses, at a cost of from half 
to three-quarters of a million of dollars per annum. 

838. The Sicilian sumac (Blius coriaria) thrives only in a warm 
climate, where the orange, the carob, and the pistacia grow in the 
open air, and the ash produces manna. It will bear an occasional, 
light frost in midwinter. It is particularly liable to injury Irom : 
white frost in spring. It is propagated from sj)routs that come uj) 
around the matiM^e shrubs. They are taken off in December and 
January, and set in rows, which are ridged up, and well cultivated 
at intervals through the first year, but it does not begin to j)roduce 
till the third year. 

839. The leaves are harvested by trimming the shoots that spring 
up around the main stem, a process that is done by men with a 
pruning-hook, or by picking the leaves by hand, which is done by 
women and children, during the summer. The leaves and trimmings 
are then dried, and the leaves are beaten off from the latter by 
threshing with flails, or treading of animals, preference being given 
to the hottest hours of the day, as the leaves then separate most 
easily. The best qualities are baled with the leaves entire, and with- 
out their stems. The next grade has the leaves bruised, with the 
stems adhering ; the next, is the leaf crop of one-year old plants, 
while the lowest and poorest grade is from the tops of branches 
gathered in the beginniug of autumn. 

840. In any attempt to cultivate this species in the United States, 
success could only be expected from fresh cuttings, planted in the 
southern border of the Gulf States and in Southern California. Of 
Dative species we have three that are used to some extent for tan- 
ning purposes. They are, in order of preference, the Ehus glabra, 
or smooth sumac, the R. copallina, the wing-ribbed or mountain sumac, 
and the B. typhina, or stag-horn sumac. 

841. The principal American sumac that is prepared for market 
comes from Virginia. The leaves are picked by country people, 
without much regard to the season, from the shrubs found growing 
wild, and are dried and sold by weight to the owners of mills for 
grinding. The leaves should be taken when full of sap, and before 
they turn red or begin to wither, and especially before frost. After 
being wilted in the sun, they should be spread upon shelves or racks 
to dry in a shaded but airy place, and should be allowed to remain 
at least a mouth, and in damp weather longer, before going to mar- 



210 Cultivation of the Sumac. 

ket. Its value is judged by the color of the leaves, which should 
be of a bright green, and the price ranges about 75 cents per 100 
pounds. The quantity gathered is about 7,000 to 8,000 tons. It is 
ground in close compartments, under revolving stone or wooden 
rollers, and is sent to market in sacks. 

842. The difference in quality between Sicilian and American su- 
macs is about 6 to 8 per cent of tannic acid in favor of the former, 
while its price is about $50 more per ton. The native sumacs grow 
readily from seeds and sprouts, and when once started might be 
propagated with facility. It has not yet been determined as to the 
differences that may result from climate, but judging from the ex- 
perience of Europe, a warm climate, and a southern slope, would be 
more favorable than others, and as it is found growing wild in the 
most rugged and rocky grounds, it may doubtless be cultivated in 
such places with profit. 

843. A considerable amount of sumac was formerly gathered in 
Connecticut, and there are still persons who make it an exclusive 
business to gather, dry, and thresh tlie leaves for market. It sells 
in New York and Boston at from $40 to $50 per ton. It is gathered 
entirely from the wild shrubs, no attempt being made at cultivation. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

DESCEIPTIONS OF TARTICULAPw SPECIES. 

844. It is not our purpose to follow a systematic classification in 
the following jmges, nor to introduce botanical descriptions. We 
shall present some facts concerning the number and distribution of 
species ; more particularly those that appear worthy of attention in 
forest-culture, without attempting to notice those that are of chief 
interest for ornamental planting, or that are merely woody shrubs. 

The Oaks and their related Species. 

845. Of the natural order CupuUferoz to which the oaks, beech, 
chestnut, etc., belong, there are about four hundred species. They 
are divided into three tribes, viz: Betuloe, including the birches and 
alders; Coryllece, including the hornbeam, ironwood, hazel, etc., and 
the Quercince^ including the oaks, chestnuts, and beeches. 

846. The oaks are, by general consent, ranked by English writers 
upon sylviculture as of first importance, on account of the great 



The Oaks : General Division. 211 

size to which the more important species grow, the vast age that 
they attain, and the hardness and durability of the timber. Since 
the introduction of iron as a building material, the oak has lost 
much of its importance in ship-building and for structures requiring 
great solidity and strength, such as bridges and large buildings for 
business purposes or public use in cities ; but the better kinds of 
oak will always be valued among the most desirable for forest 
planting, and under favorable conditions as the most profitable that 
can be grown. 

847. The oaks are chiefly natives of the north temperate zone, 
but some occur upon mountains within the tropics, in the Malay 
archipelago, and in South America. None are found in Australia ; 
one genus only of the family is found in the south temperate zone, 
and a few are found within the Arctic circle. 

8-18. About 250 species of the Qaercus, or oak genus, are known 
to botanists. They are arranged by De Candole^ into six sections, 
four of Vvhich are found only in South-eastern Asia. About forty 
species occur native within the United States. They may be con- 
veniently arranged into two classes, viz., the "white" and the 
" black "oaks. 

849. The luhite oaks, are so called from the grayish or ash-colored 
tint of the bark, wdiich often tends to separate into scales. The 
wood is tough, dense, and excellent for cooperage, wagon-making, 
and other uses requiring closeness of grain, strength, and durability. 
The trees are slower in growth than the other divisions to be men- 
tioned, but owing to the superior quality of the timber, they may 
prove more profitable for planting, although longer in coming to full 
maturity. They are excellent for fuel and charcoal, and most of 
them are desirable for ornamental planting. 

850. The black oaks, have a bark which is dark, rough, and deeply 
cracked. The wood is brittle, porous, and a poor fuel. It is so 
porous that it can not be used for casks for holding liquids. The 
peduncles or fruit stems are short or wanting, and the acorns gener- 
ally ripen the second year, but to this there are some exceptions. 
Their growth, as compared with the white oaks, is very rapid, gen- 
erally as two to one, and even more. There is generally less dis^ 
tinction between the heart-wood and the sap-wood, and they occur 

^Prodromiis, Vol. XVI. 



212 



Classification of tlie Oaks. 



principally iu the Atlaotic States. They far excel the Avhite oaks 
iu the tanning qualities of the bark. 

851. Michaux described twenty-eight epecics of the oak in his 
*' Sylva Americana," including three introduced European species ; 
and used as the first basis of subdivision the character of the leaves. 
In the first division, he placed the species with beardless leaves, and 
in the second, those in which the lobes are terminated by a bristle. 
The interval between blossoming and the ripening of the fruit Avas 
admitted as a secondary character, which, in the first of his divis- 
ions, is generally annual, and in tlie second biennial. 

852. The species that he described were as follow^s : 



FiEST Division : Fructification annual ; leaves beardless. 

Fivd Section : Leaves lobed. 

1. White oak, Qunrus alba. 3. ]\Iossy-cup oak, Q. oUvceformis. 

Common European oak, Q. 4. Over-cup white oak, Q. ma- 

rohur. crocarpa. 

European white oak, Q. 5. Post oak, Q. obtusitoba. 

robuT 'pedencidata. fi. Over-cup oak, Q. hjrata. 



2. < 



Second Section: Leaves toothed. 

7. Swamp white oak, Q. prinus 10. Yellow oak, Q. prinus acu- 

discolor. miuata. 

8. Chestnut white oak, Q. prm«s 11. Small chestnut oak, Q.j^Hmts 

palustris. chinquapin. 

9. Rock chestnut oak, Q. prinus 

monticola. 



Second Division : Fructification biennial ; leaves mucronated.^ 
First Section : Leaves obtuse or entire. 

1G. Upland willow oak, Q. cine- 



12. Live oak, Q. virens. 

13. Cork oak, Q. suber. 

14. WiWovf osik, Q. phellos. 

15. Laurel oak, Q. imbricaria. 



rea. 



17. Running oak, Q. pumila. 



^ Except in thirteenth species. 



Classification of the Oaks. 213 

Second Section : Leaves lobed. 

18. Bartram oak, Q. /ieferoj%//a. 20. Black-jack oak, Q./ern/^fmea. 

19. Water oak, Q. aquatlca. 21. Bear oak, Q. Bannisteri. 

Third Section: Leaves multifid or many-cleft. 

22. Barren scrub oak, Q. Gates- 25. Scarlet oak, Q. coccinea. 

lael. 26. Gray oak, Q. amhujua. 

23. Spanish oak, Q. falcata. 27. Pin oak, Q. palustris. 

24. Black oak, Q. tlnctorla. 28. Red oak, Q. rubra. 

853. The oaks have been made a subject of careful study by Dr. 
Geo. Engelmaun, of St. Louis, who arranges the native American 
species according to their natural affinities, as follows : ^ 

A. Leucobalanus (Yfhite Oaks.) 
1. Seeds maturing anmiatly : 
(a.) Leaves deciduous. 

Quercus alba, White oak. 

'' lobata, California white oak. 

'* Brewerll, Brewer's oak. 

" Garrai/ana, Oregon white oak. 

*' stellata, Post oak. 

*' macrocarpa, Burr oak ; overcup oak. 

*' hjrata^ Southern overcup oak. 

" blcobr (Mlchauxll), Gwamp white oak. 

** ^ jyrlnus, Rock-chestnut oak. 

*' . Muklenbergii {iirhioldes) Small chestnut oak. 

*' Douglasii, California white cak. 

'< undulata, Rocky Mountain Avhite oak. 

*' 2mngens, Arizona white oak. 

(b.) Leaves persistent. 

Quercus oblong If olla, Oblong-leaved oak. 
" dinnosa, Dwarf California oak. 
" reticulata. 
" virens, Live oak. 

^ TransacHons of St. Levis Academy of Sciences, Vol. III., No. 4, p. 388. 
The cominoii names that we have added, are somewhat uncertain in their 
u.se. It will be seen that some have two, some more, and others are applied 
to more than one species. 



214 Classificoiion of the Oaks. \ 

■ \ 

2. Seeds maturing the second year : i 

Quercus chrijsolepis (^vacciniifolia) , Caoon live oakc I 

" Pahnerii, Palmer's dwarf oak. ! 

" tomentella. 

B. Melanobalanus (Black Oaks.) ; 

1. Seeds maturing annually ; leaves j^ersistent : ' i 

Quercus Emory I, Emory's oak. ] 

" agrifoUa, Field oak. \ 

" jiuinila, Dwarf oak. ' 
" hypoleuca. 

2. Seeds maturing the second year : .! 
(a.) Leaves deciduous. j 

Quercus rubra, Black oak ; Red-oak. ; 

" coGcinea^ (tinctoria), Scarlet-oak. ■ 

" Kelloggii, Califoruia black-oak. i 

" falcata, Spanish-oak. ; 

" Cateshaei, Catesby's oak. i 

" ilicifolia, Black scrub-oak. j 

" jmlustris, Pin-oak. j 

" Georgiana. ] 
'* aquatica, Water-oak. 

" laurifolia, AVater-oak. ] 

" nigra, Black-jack. ' j 

" cinerea, Upland willow-oak. ' 
" imbricaria, Shingle-oak. 

" 'phellos, Willow-oak. ^ 

(6.) Leaves persistent. i 
Quercus Wislizeni, California live-oak. 

" myiiifoUa. .! 

One other, the California chestnut oak (Q. densiflora), can be i 

classed w'ith neither. i 

854. Hybrids are occasionally noticed in the oaks, from the cross- j 

fertilization of species, but not outside of the group to Avhich the | 

species belong. The diff^u-ences between white oaks and black oaks | 

are too great to admit of this crossing, and they have been more 1 

frequently noticed in the black oaks. The following black oaks, ; 

^The Q. coccinea and Q. iiiicioria are, by some botanists, made separate 1 
species. 



Hybrid Oaks: General mode of Cultkmtion. 215 

heretofore described as species, are regarded by Dr. Engelmaun as 
hybrids : 

Qaercus simiata, probably from Q. Catesbaei and Q. laurifoUa. (South 
CaroliDa.) 
" tridentata, from Q. imbricarla aud Q. nigra. (Illinois.) 
'* Leana, from Q. imbricaria aud Q. coccinea. (Ohio to Mis- 
souri, and near Washington.) 
" heterophylla, from Q. j^hellos and Q. coccinea. (In New Jer- 
sey and Delaware.) 
855. Oaks succeed best on a deep loomy soil, and on low lands 
rather than upon hills. They are especially liable to injury from 
late spring frosts, both in the blossoms and leaves, and having a 
long tap-root, they are somewhat difficult to transplant, without 
careful preparation, tending to the suppression of this root, and to 
the formation of abundant fibers. They may be planted in the fall 
or early in the spring, in the places where they are to remain, and 
should be cultivated till they shade the grounds. When started in 
nurseries, they should be transplanted two or three times before final 
planting, and the tap-roots should be cut off with a sharp knife, to 
induce the formation of lateral roots and more abundant radicles. 




120. Quercus pedunculata: The English Oak— Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit. 



216 Cidtication of the Oak. 

856. There is a great advantage iu planting them with other spe- 
cies, such as the beech, pines, and spruces, with the view of com- 
pelling the trees to form a long straight body ; but in this case, 
reasonable care should be taken to remove those other kinds from 
time to time, as the growth becomes dense. 

857. Where the oak is cultivated in Europe for its bark and 
wood, it is recommended to cut close to the ground, and in a dry 
time to cover the stumps with a handful of leaves, or any rubbish 
that may be convenient, to keep them from becoming too dry. If 
cut very close, the sprouts will be fewer iu number, but stronger, 
and better rooted. Where this practice is carefully followed, they 
will reproduce a great number of times. 







121.- Oak from Provence. Franoe. Very 122. Oak from Bourafosrne, France. Very 
hard, and of rapid growth. ' hard, but of slow growth. 

858. The quality of oak timber is much influenced by the condi- 
tions in which it has grown. In a rich and moderately humid soil, 
and iu a warm climate, the fibers acquire their highest qualities of 
strength and durability. Such wood the French call ^^ maicjre" 
(lean), or " dur'' (hard). The grain is hard and close : it scarcely 
absorbs water. The wood splits easily without running out on one 
side, and when planed the shavings form strong tough strips. When 
such wood is broken, the fracture forms many long sharp splinters. 
The two specimens on page 217 are also of this class. 

859. But when oak is grown in a soil that is submerged for a time 
in spring, but dry the rest of the year, the spring growth is loose 
and spongy, while that formed later in the season may be very hard. 
Such wood can not be either strong or durable, although from the 
differences in the grain, it may be highly ornamental for inside fin- 
ishing and for cabinet work. 

800. The American White Oak (Quercus alba). This tree oc- 
curs from Canada southward to the Gulf, and westward to beyond 
the Missouri, but it comes to greatest perfection in the Middle 
States, and in the deep, strong, and moderately damp soil. The 



The White Oak, 



217 



land on which it formed a principal part of the timber, generally has 
proved when brought under cultivation to be well adapted for 












«*'>■ 
?>>■ 



i5v 






7MA 













123. Italian Oak: Very coarse, 
but strong when fully ripened. 



124. Italian Oak : Coarse, but 

very strong. 



wheat. It derives its name from the whitish color of the bark. The 
wood has a slightly reddish tinge, and although not as heavy and 
compact as the common English oak, it is solid, strong, and durable, 
and is found excellent for heavy timber-work, and for all kinds of 
structures requiring durability and strength. It is extensively used 
for staves, agricultural implements, carriage and car-building, cab- 
inet wares, fencing, and various farm purjDOses, and is a favorite wood 
in ship-building. Like the European oaks above described, the 
quality of the wood differs according to the nature of the soil in 
which it has grown, being relatively more dense, strong, and dura- 
ble when grown in a warm climate and upon a rich and moderately 
humid, clayey loam. 

861. This timber has been largely exported from the northern 
borders of the United States, and from Canada by way of the St. 
Lawrence to England, and in districts where it was once abundant 
it is now scarce. A considers })ie amount that leaves the port of 
Quebec is now brought from Michigan and other states bordering 
upon the lakes. In floating this timber it is usually made up into 
rafts with pine, to give it greater bouyancy. 

862. The Live Oak (^Quercus vlreiu), is an evergreen tree found 



218 



Live Oak: California Species. 



growing in Georgia, Florida, and along the Gulf Coast, and since 
an early period in our government it has been an object of protec- 
tion to some extent on account of its great value in ship-building. 
Some experiments at cultivation were attempted many years since, 
but without much success, excepting the clearing away of bushes 
around young plants found native in the thickets. It could doubt- 
less be grown from acorns with proper care, perhaps by using slight 
perishable baskets for keeping the soil around the roots in trans- 
planting from seed-beds, as is practiced with bamboo shells in rais- 
ing the teak and the cinchonas in India. The wood of the live 
oak is of great strength and hardness, but not of slow growth, the 
annual layers being often a quarter or a third of an inch in thick- 
ness. This tree especially deserves cultivation in regions where it 
will grow. 




125. Quercus HmdsiL— Leaves and Acorn one-half the Natural 

Size. 



863. Among the remaining oaks of the Atlantic States, there are 
many that have a local value, but none that enter largely into com- 
merce, or that are extensively used in manufactures. Most of them 
afford excellent fuel and charcoal, and some of them are quite durable 
when used as railway ties or fence posts. The bark of the " scarlet 



California Oaks. 219 

oak" (Qaercus coceinea) furnishes the ''quercitron," so highly val- 
ued as a yellow dye and a tanning mater'al, and is an article of con- 
siderable commercial importance. 

864. Upon the Pacific Coast we find a dozen or more species of 
the oak some of them fine and ornamental, but none of them of 
great importance for their timber, which is weak, brittle, and alto- 
gether inferior to the general quality of oaks as found in the Atlan- 
tic States. They chiefly belong to the *' white oak" family. Four 
or iive of them have persistent leaves, the rest being deciduous, and 
one of them much resembles the chestnut. 

865. The Long-acorned Oak (Q. HindsU) of California, much 
resembles the white oak of the Eastern States. It is the finest and 
perhaps most abundant of the oaks of that region, occurring along 
the foot-hills and the valleys of streams in clumps and belts, branch- 
ing out low and broad, and sometimes five or six feet in diameter 
near the ground. The wood is porous and brittle. The acorns are 
gathered and eaten by the natives, and stored for winter use. 

866. The California Chestnut Oak (Q. densiflora) is a small 
tree with evergreen leaves, found growing on the coast range with 
the red-woods. It sometimes occurs fifty or sixty feet high, and 
from one to two feet in diameter. It is often only a shrub. The 
fruit ripens the second year, and the wood is worthless and brittle. 
This oak is the only American representative of a group found 
chiefly in Asia, having strong resemblance to the chestnut, with 
spines on its cup, somewhat like those on the chestnut-burr. In the 
Sacramento Valley, it forms a low but handsome tree. 

867. The Evergreen Oak of California, often called the '* shrub 
oak" (Q. agrifolia, is a low spreading tree, having much the form 
of an apple-tree, rarely over a foot in diameter, and 30 to 40 feet 
high. It occurs in the Sacramento Valley, and extends south into 
JVIexico. The wood is hard, brittle, and too small for valuable use. 

868. The Chestnut {Castanea vesca). This tree is found native 
from the central part of New England and Central New York 
southward and westward, extending into the mountains of the Car- 
oliuas and Georgia, and occurring abundantly in the eastern part 
of Kentucky and Tennessee. In Canada it is found only in the 
peninsula westward from the Niagara river, and is not of sufficient 
abundance to be of much practical account. It is common in the 
states north of the Ohio river, where the soil is favorable. Our 



220 



The Chestnut. 



American chestnut is a variety of the same species that is culti- 
vated in Europe. 




(126. Qucrcus agnfolin.— 'Leaves and Fruit one-half Natural 
Size. [See page 21'J.] 

869. The chestnut in Massachusetts forms one of the largest of 
the native forest trees, growing sometimes in the southwestern part 
of the state to the height of ninety or a hundred feet. It extends 
into the southern edge of Maine, but scarcely beyond the 44th de- 
gree of latitude, nor does it generally thrive near the sea. 

870. The chestnut is early to feel the warmth of spring, and some- 
times suffers from late spring frosts. For tliis reason, it is least apt 
to suffer on a northern or north-eastern slope. It requires a light, 
silecious soil, if deep and substantial, and especially prefers that 
formed by the decomposition of granite, gneiss, mica-slate, or sand- 
stone. Upon granitic gravel and volcanic scoriae it ^'ives the most 
abundant products. It is useless to plant it upon calcareous soils, 
nor does it prosper upon clays, or in marshy and undrained situations. 
It prefers hills and mountains of moderate height, and succeeds much 
better there than upon plains. 

871. For cultivation as a timber-tree, it should be planted upon 
gravelly hills, and generally where it is to remain. The young 
plants are robust from the first, and do not prosper in the shade. 
They are more apt to suffer from frost than the oak. The roots are 
generally abundant, and strike deep into the soil, but not as deep 
as the oak. The growth is rapid, and sustained till sixty or seventy 



The Chestnut. 221 

years of age, but it continues to live and grow to more than twice 
this period, and under favorable circumstances it sometimes lives to 
an immense age.^ 

872. Of our native forest trees, there are few that show a greater 
tendency to grow from the sprouts than the chestnut, and on rocky 
and broken grounds, where this tree will flourish best, there is no 
crop that under favorable circumstances and proper protection will 
pay so good a profit upon the laud. 

873. It is remarked by the highest authorities upon forestry, that 
'' chestnut stumps have a remarkable durability, and tliat the 
sprouts they send up afford a growth both vigorous and rapid. It 
is especially in vine countries that coppices of this wood are found 
most profitable, from the hoops they furnish for casks and props for 
the vines." "^ It is not advisable to reserve trees for large growth in 
a chestnut coppice, as is done with great advantage in the oak, be- 
cause the shade would do more harm to the young growth than the 
air and liii-ht would benefit the reserves. 

874. The trees, when ten or fifteen years old, will begin to bear 
fruit, and thus assist in re-stocking. It would be advisable to re- 
serve a few trees around the borders of the tract to secure some 
timber of larger growth, and increase the chestnut harvest. 

875. Chestnut " sprout lands" must of course be kept inclosed 
against sheep, horses, and cattle at all seasons, for although they 
may be cut off at one time, there will still be sprouts of small size, 
and these will be needed for re-stocking the ground. The same 
objection would not exist against the admission of swine, which in 
fruitful seasons would thrive and fatten without injury to the trees. 

876. Where a chestnut grove is to be started in Europe, it is 
recommended to set the young trees from nurseries, when about 
three years old, at distances of two or three yards apart, cultivat- 
ing the ground between as long as it can be conveniently done with 
potatoes or grain, \yhen the trees have grown to two or three 
inches in diaineter, they carefully cut them off close to the ground, 

^ A chestnut tree (or pirhaps a jjroup of trees) formerly stood upon Mt. 
Etna, more than fifty yards in ch-cumference. It was hollow, and must 
have been some 2,000 years old. It was called " castagno di cento cavalli." 
It appears from an account published in 1865, that this remarkable tree no 
longer exists." {Recue des Deux Maudes, July, 1, 1865.) 

2 Lorentz and Parade — Culture des Bois. 



222 The Chestnut, 

and the next spring the stump is covered with numerous strong 
sprouts. 

877. In six or eight years, when the shoots have become thick 
and strong, the smaller rods are cut out, leaving only two or three, 
which when thus relieved take a vigorous start, and at the end of 
six or seven years more are from four to six inches in diameter. It 
is again thinned out, and at 20 to 25 years from the time of plant- 
ing, the trees that are left have made a truly wonderful growth. 
The thinnings from beginning have value, first, for hoarse basket and 
wicker-work ; and then for hoops and poles, suitable for many uses. 

878. Generally a coppice of chestnut is cut off when twelve or 
fifteen years old, and in Alsace and Eastern France, the profits 
from such a cutting are twice as great as from the white oak of that 
region at twice its age, a hectare at fifteen years being worth 3,000 
francs.^ It is there recommended to cultivate the ground with po- 
tatoes and rye two or three years after each cutting, the yield of 
these harvests being more than double the cost of cultivation and 
seed. Chestnut coppices thus managed will last in Alsace for a 
hundred years. This cultivation is thought to stimulate the growth 
of sprouts, by bringing the ends of the roots to the air, besides rid- 
ding the ground of bushes and brambles. 

879. The European chestnut is an important article of food, es- 
pecially in Italy, France, and Spain. The fruit is much larger 
than the American variety, and runs into differences in quality that 
have been introduced by cultivation, and that are propagated by 
grafting. In bearing years, the yield of a single tree is often very 
large, amounting in some cases to a ton or more of the fresh fruit 
in a single year. This shrinks about one-third in weight upon dry- 
ing. AVhen used as food it is boiled or roasted. The dried fruit re- 
duced to a meal is made into a kind of bread called in Italy polenta. 
It furnishes a principal article of food to the poor inhabitants of the 
mountain regions through the greater part of the year. 

880. The chestnut product of Italy is about 6,400 tons a year for 
the markets, and the trees are under cultivation for the fruit upon 
a million and a quarter of acres. 

881. Chestnut wood is heavier and closer grained when grown in 

'Brolliard's ^' Traitemeni des Bois en France'' p. 108. A hectare is 2.47 
acres. The rate here mentioned is a little over $240 per acre for 15 years or 
$16 per acre annually. 



The Chestnut, 223 

warm climates, and in Italy it is thought equal to the oak for staves. 
In colder countries it is too porous for coopers' use excepting for dry 
wares. It is highly prized for carpentry, bears exposure very well, 
and is very durable for fencing. It is sometimes made into shingles, 
but although durable, it is very apt to warp. Its lumber is much 
used for furniture and inside finishing, and shows to fine advantage 
when oiled or varnished. 

882. Throughout France and the south of Europe, young chest- 
nut rods are extensively used for hoops, and from their durability 
in moist places they will long resist the dampness of cellars. Chest- 
nut coppices are considered valuable property for this use, and are 
cut off about once in seven years, the smaller rods being saved for 
hoops, and the larger ones for vine-props. The American chestnut 
is not found well adapted for this use, as the wood is more brittle, 
and more liable to split off at the ends. 

883. As a fuel, the chestnut ranks with the light woods. Its 
pores being full of air, it snaps as it burns, and its charcoal is liglit, 
but still useful in forges, although not as valuable as the hard-woods 
in the reduction of metallic ores. 

884. The extract of cJiestniit is prepared in France, by cutting the 
green wood into chips, with revolving planes, that slice across the 
grain. The chips are then put into great covered boilers, and al- 
lowed to mascerate for some time, when steam is admitted, and the 
process is continued till the tannin in the wood is exhausted. The 
liquor is then strained out and evaporated to the desired consistence. 
This acid product is used in preparing silks, and is employed in tan- 
ning the lighter kinds of leather. In the neighborhood of Lyons, 
France, they get 25 per cent of weight of the wood in the form of 
extract, worth about 18 francs per 100 kilograms, equal to about 
500 pounds to the ton, worth $32.72. 

885. Chestnut wood has been used to a small extent in the 
United States for tanning purposes. It appears to require a warm 
climate, to develop these properties so as to be of much value. 

886. Dying of of the Chestnut. Throughout the Piedmont region 
in North Carolina and in the northern part of Georgia and Ala- 
bama, the chestnut trees have been dying off in many cases to a large 
extent, and from causes that have not been ascertained. The mor- 
tality is noticed in trees of all ages, and now there is but little of 
this timber found in a growing condition in North Carolina east of 



224 The Chestnut, and the Chinquapins. 

the Blue Ridge, until we get high up on its peaks and spurs. 
TV^estward of this ridge, the trees do not bear fruit now as they did 
twenty years ago, so that hog-raising, formerly an important busi- 
ness, has almost ceased. Occasionally there is still a good chestnut 
crop, but it is rare and uncertain. 

887. In Europe, a similar fatality has been noticed in some parts 
of Italy and Spain, and there has been found in connection with the' 
roots a fungus, composed of blackish brown filaments, forming a 
net- work that penetrates the cellular tissues of the bark and wood, 
feeding upon the juices of the living tree, and upon the decompos- 
ing remains of the dead. No remedy has been proposed there 
short of grubbing up and destroying by fire the roots of infected 
trees, and all the debris ; but of course in our country such a meas- 
ure would be wholly impracticable, unless possibly in isolated cases, 
should this treatment be found effectual, and its necessity urgent.* 

888. The Chinquapin (Castanea pumila) is usually a shrub or 
small tree, growing in swamps, in the Middle and Southern States, 
rarely attaining a height of thirty or forty feet, and generally being 
too small for use. In Arkansas, however, it grows to a large size — 
sometimes three and even four feet in diameter, but not to a great 
height. The fruit is small and sweet, and sometimes finds its way 
into market. A dwarf variety grows upon poor soils, and bears fruit 
when not more than a foot in height. It has been recommended 
for cultivation as a covering for land too poor for other growth, and 
as aiP^rding food for swine. 

889. The Western Chinquapin (Castanopsis chrysophijlla) is gen- 
erally a low and unimportant evergreen shrub, growing iii Califor- 
nia and Oregon; but in the Cascade Mountains, it sometimes grows 
to thirty feet in height, or even much larger. The leaves have a 
dark green color above, but are covered with a yellow powder be- 
neath. The nut is small, with a harder shell than the eastern 
chinquapin, which it otherwise much resembles. 

^ A writer in Carrol Co., Ga., mentions this disease of the chestnut, which 
appeared about fifteen years ajio, and had made a clean sweep — even the 
bushes havinji nearly all died; no worms or insects had been found upon 
them before death, and even now the dead chestnut trees were the most val- 
uable rail-timber ihoy had it beinfi soft but vei'y durable, lasting longer in 
the open weather than any other kind. After being dead over ten j'ears, 
the trees were sound, and without signs of decay. 



The Beeches. 225 

The Beech (Genus Fagus). 

890. About twenty-five species of the Fagus are described by 
botanists, being widely diffused in tlie temperate zones both north 
and south. 

891. In Europe the beech (Fagus sylvatica) is very extensively 
cultivated in France, Germany, and Denmark, constituting a very 
important timber-tree, preferring a cool to a mild climate, and in 
warm regions growing only at con?;iderable elevations. It thrives in 
great variety of soils, but j)refers those that are calcareous and 
gravelly, but not sandy, and where the climate favors, it grows both 
upon mountains and the plain?. It is often cultivated alone, form- 
ing great forests by itself; but it grows very well with the oak, fir, 
maple, Scotch pine, etc., and as its roots spread near the surface, 
while those of the oak penetrate deep into the sub-soil, these trees 
appear to thrive very well together. 

892. The wood of the beech splits remarkably well when green, 
but it is very liable to shrink, and should not be used until well 
seasoned. It is largely used for cabinet work, and for a wide di- 
versity of uses in the industries, but does not bear exposure to the 
weather nor changes from wet to dry. When injected with the sul- 
phate of copper, it has been much used as railroad ties, but it is not 
as lasting as unimpregnated oak. It is very highly esteemed for 
fuel and charcoal, and the oil from its nuts has the same uses as that 
from the olive. 

893. Its growth is rather slow at first, but a little more rapid than 
that of the oak. It is noticed that under a deep shade the beech 
will sprout from the seed and grow to a yard or so in height, when 
it will stop growing, and remain almost indefinitely; but start vig- 
orously again, as soon as the light is admitted.^ The slight differ- 
ence in quality between the sap-wood and the heart-wood, allows of 
the whole being used without the waste of any part. 

894. The beech comes to maturity sooner than the oak, and does 
not grow to so large a size. As there is not much gain in qual- 
ity when grown to greatest size, it is generally cut when from 24 to 
30 inches in diameter. In some torests it is grown as coppice-wood 
by sprouts from the roots and stump, but in many places this is found 
an uncertain process, and it is planted from nurseries, or started by 
natural seeding. 

^ G. Bajineris' " Manuel de Sylviculture,'' 2d. Ed., p. G5. 




t27. Fagus sylvatien.— The European Beach. 1. Upper side of a twisr in May, with 
male nnd female blossoms. 2. A separate male blossom. 3. Antbeis, front and 
rear views, and sections. 4. Female blossoms of imtural size. 5. 1 he same, sep- 
arated and enlarged. 6. Pectioii of the same, showing the germs of seeds, en- 
larged. 7. Transverse section of the latter, at the point marked by a star. 8. The 
ripe fruit in its l)urr. 9. The sime, before opening. 10. Cross-section of a nut. 
11. Twiur Avith two leaf-buds. Exeeptin:^ 1, 4, 8, 9, and 11, tlicyo fii,'ures are more 
or less enlurLied. 



The Beeches. 227 

895. A very simple method is employed for preserviog the nuts 
for plauting. They are gathered, spread in an airy place, turned 
daily to allow of moderate drying, and then left on a floor under a 
covering of straw to keep from frost. With the greatest care it is 
sometimes difficult to keep them alive from fall to spring. 

896. In order to succeed in planting the beech, it is necessary to 
provide shelter for the young plant, which may be found by raking 
in the nuts upon bare places in the woods, or by planting in east and 
west rows, some other kinds of trees a year or two before we plant 
the beech. These nurses may be birch, elm, pine, or whate\rer else 
best suits the soil, as they are to be removed when no longer needed. 

897. The nuts should be planted like corn, and when up, they 
should be carefully hoed, taldnq care to cover the seminal leaves, leav- 
ing only the leaves proper above the ground. If planted in fall, 
as is preferable, the seed will sprout in the spring following. Ow- 
ing to the difficulty in getting plants started from the seed, it is 
common to seek the young plants where they have been self-sown 
in the w^oods, set them in nursery rows, and transplant when of 
sufficient size. These seed-plants are best taken up with a trowel, 
and a cool cloudy time should be chosen for the operation. 

898. Our native species (Fagus feruginea) occurs widely scattered 
throughout the New England, Middle, and Northwestern States, as 
far west as Wisconsin, and in Canada, as far north as a line run- 
ning from a little beyond Lake Huron eastward to the Bay of 
Chaleurs. It extends southward into the Southern States, grow- 
ing sparingly upon the low-lands, but to large size in the moun- 
tains. It attains its greatest development in Michigan and AVis- 
consin, and in the heavy forests south of Lake Superior its growth 
is truly magnificent. 

899. In Northern Pennsylvania and in some portions of New 
England and New York, the beech grows as almost the only tree 
upon dry rocky ridges, and in fruit-seasons these beech ridges have 
attracted enormous flocks of wild-pigeons for nesting. 

900. Various exceptional forms and tints of foliage have been 
produced in the beech under cultivation, and are perpetuated by 
grafting or layers, such as cut-leaved, purple or copper-leaved, 
golden-stripe leaved, etc. Some of these produce a highly orna- 
mental effect upon the lawn, and in parks and avenues. 

901. The beech is termed " red" or " white" by woodmen, from 



228 The Beeches and the Birches. 

the difference in color of the heart-wood ; but they appear to be 
simply varieties of the same species, from differences in the soil or 
exposure. The red beech is much more durable, and under water 
it appears almost indestructible. It has also been found durable in 
plank-roads, and in ship-building where permanently under water, 
and for this reason it is fometimes used for the keels of vessels. 

902. The beech of Victoria and Tasmania (Fagus Cimnhigh^.mi) 
is a magnificent evergreen of colossal size, and living only in cool, 
damp, rich forest valleys where it not unfrequently grows to the 
height of two hundred feet. The wood, much used by carpenters 
and others, is known to the trade as " myrtle." 

903. Other evergreen beeches of fine size and much value, (F. 
Ilenzusii), known as the " red birch ;" F.-fusea, the " black birch ;" 
F. Solandrl, the " white birch," of colonists) are found in New Zea- 
land. It is not improbable that some of these might succeed un- 
der similar conditions, especially in Southern California, where so 
many Australian species have been found to thrive. 

The Birch (Genus Betula). 

904. About twenty-five species of the birch are known in Europe, 
Asia, and North America, and they are divided into some sixty sub- 
species or characteristic varieties. They prefer a cool, humid cli- 
mate, some growing upon mountains of considerable elevation, and 
others preferring swampy grounds and river banks. 

905. The birch extends about as far into the Arctic zone as woody 
plants of any kind will grow. In the remote part of the Highlands 
of Scotland, it forms coppices on rocky elevations where no otlier 
ligneous plant is found, and throughout Northern Europe it forms 
an important article for fuel. 

906. It shows a tendency to succeed the pines where they have 
been cut off, and is readily propagated from seed, but does best on 
new ground, and can hardly be made to grow where nursery trees 
have previously been raised. The seeds scarcely admit of any cov- 
ering, and if simply pressed into the ground with the feet they will 
grow. A bushel of seed will stock thirty linear yards of a seed- 
bed four feet wide. When a year old, they may be transplanted to 
nursery rows, and when two or three feet high may be set for per- 
manence. 

907. Cut-leaved, weeping, and other varieties have been intro- 
duced for ornamental planting, and are perpetuated by grafting. 



The Birches. 



229 



Sometimes the wood has knots and curls in the grain that take a 
fine polish when used as veneers. It is a favorite wood for shoe- 
pegs, spools, bobbins, and other small articles. It is peeled into 
brooms, and strips of its wood are braided into baskets and fishing- 
traps. The smoke of its wood imparts a fine flavor to hams, and 




128. Bctula a?6a.— White Birch. 

its bark is used for tanning leather. An oil prepared from the birch 
imparts the peculiar odor to Kussia leather much used in substantial 
book-binding. Birch-wine is made from the sap of this tree by 
fermentation. 

908. The seeds of the birch and the alder scatter very soon after 



230 The Birches. 

they ripen, tind it is difficult to keep them. They should he gath- 
ered hy hand just as the burrs begin to turn brown, and if possible, 
they should be sown the same year. An expeditious way to obtain 
the seed is to cut off the bran-ches that bear the burrs at the time 
when they are just ripening, and hang them in a dry place till the 
seed falls out. As they should be covered but very slightly, they 
are best raked in, upon soil previously prepared, and if sown in au 
tumn, they will start the next spring. 

909. The birch can not reproduce with much advantage from tho 
stumps, but it readily springs up from the seed in vacant spots in 
the w'oods. 

910. The Yellow Birch (Betida excelsa) is a northern species, 
growing to a greater size than any other of the birches, and when 
large, the grain is often twisted in a spiral manner. Its wood is 
solid, fine-grained, and easily worked, and is much used for cabine? 
wares. The bark possesses tanning properties, yet is but seldom used. 

911. The Canoe Birch (Betula papyr^acea) is also a northern spe- 
cies, occurring along the northern border of the United States, and 
far northward into Canada. The bark is used for making canoes, 
baskets, and other uses, and its wood, which is white, is largely 
used for making shoe- pegs, spools, lasts, and cabinet wares. It 
turns smoothly, and takes a fine finish. 

912. The Red Birch (Betula nigra) grows in the Atlantic States, 
from New England to the Caroliuas. It is also common in the 
Western and South-western States, always preferring river banks, 
and sometimes growing to one or two feet in diameter, but usually 
much less. It derives its name from the reddish tinge of the bark, 
which hangs in loose shreds upon the trunk and branches, giving it 
a peculiarly ragged appearance. 

913. The Sweet Birch (Betula lenta) sometimes called *' Cherry 
Birch," or " Black Birch," from the dark color of its bark, is a tree 
of small size ; is chiefly a northern species, extending from Canada 
southward along the mountains as far as North Carolina. The Be- 
tula glandulosa, a far-northern species, and some others of less ac- 
count, are also found within our territory, occurring as a low bush 
upon our northwestern coast. 

914. The Western Birch (Betula occidentalls) is a shrub, grow- 
ing 10 to 20 feet high, with a close, dark-colored bark, which be- 
comes light brown, copiously sprinkled with resinous warts. It 



The Alders. 231 

occurs in the eastern canons of the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation 
of 4,500 to 10,000 feet above tide, where it is said to be common. 
It is found northward in Washington Territory and in British 
America, and among the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. Well- 
grown trees are found in the northern part of the Frazer basin, and 
in the Pearl river country, in British Columbia. 

The Alder (Genus Alnus). 

915. Of these there are about fifteen species, found in middle 
and northern Europe, North America, and upon the Andes in South 
America. About half the number occur in North America. 

916. The European alder most commonly cultivated is the A. 
glutinosa. It is indigenous throughout Europe, and when growing 
wild, seldom attains more than thirty or forty feet in height; but in 
Great Britain it has, under cultivation, grown to eighty feet with a 
trunk three to four feet in diameter. It matures at fifty or sixty 
years. Its timber, when always submerged, is very durable, but not 
where exposed to alternations of w^et and dry. Its brush is used in 
filling marshy lands, and its wood as staves for fish barrels, and for 
lasts, turned goods, cabinet wares, etc. To prevent insects from at- 
tacking it, the finer pieces are sometimes, in Scotland, immersed for 
some months in water in a peat bog. If some lime is thrown in, 
the effect is improved. Such wood has some resemblance to ma- 
hogany, and is used for tables, etc. Charcoal from this wood is 
used in making gunpowder, and the bark for tanning. 

917. The alder prefers a rich, damp soil, such as alluvial bottom- 
lands and the borders of streams. It will, however, grow to a large 
size on dryer land, and from its rapid growth and great tenacity of 
life, it is esteemed as a nurse for the more tender kinds in bleak and 
exposed situations. It is, like the willow, useful for consolidating 
banks, and to keep it in best condition for this, it is cut as coppice- 
wood once in eight or ten years. It sprouts readily from the stumps. 
As a screen for osier fields and the like, it is very valuable. 

918. The alder is propagated with facility from the seed, which 
should be spread in their cones on a dry floor, and stirred from time 
to time till they are dry. They may be sown at once, or in March 
or April following, on rich, moist land, previously prepared. They 
should be thinly covered and rolled, and the next spring trans- 
planted from the seed-beds, and after another year in the nursery, 




129. Alnus glutinnsn.-The Black Alder: 1. Twie: with leaves, and the fferms of male 
an(1 female blossoms ot the Jiext year. 2. Male calkin in full bloom. 3, 4, 5 6 A 
full-blossomed capsule, from different points of view. 7.8. A four-lobed s'inele 
blossom, side and upper points of view. 9. Female catkin, enlarged. 30. n.'l2, 
i'Z' |,T: '^' }^- Enlarired view of female blossom, with appondaees. and the fruit. 
1/. 1 he npe truit-capsnle. is. Tiie same, opened. i.«>. A t\v\s, with leaf-buds 
20. Cross-section of a twig. Of the above figures, only 1, 2, 17, 18, 19, and 20 are 
ot the n.itural size, the remainder being enlarged ^ • » > . ' 



The Alders and the Hornbeams. 233 

they may be finally transplanted. The alder is rated as a soft wood, 
and sold at a low price. For general cultivation it is not profitable, 
but for special uses it has great advantages. 

919. The American Alder {Alims incana), the most widely dis- 
tributed of our native species, occurs from New England northward 
far into British America, and westward to Oregon. It is found in 
New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah, and in the Sierra Nevada mount- - 
aius to an elevation of 6,000 to 7,000 feet. It most commonly oc- 
curs in dense thickets along the border of streams, seldom growing 
to a size for any use but firewood. 

920. The Red Alder (A. rubra) occurs along the Pacific from 
Alaska southward, sometimes growing 30 to 40 feet high. It grows 
to a small tree on Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands and the 
coast of the mainland, and its wood is sometimes used for charcoal. 

921. The White Alder (A. rhomhlfolid) occurs from Oregon to 
Southern California as a tree 20 to 50 feet high and 2 to 3 feet in 
diameter. It has a light, ash-gray bark, slender branches. 

922. The Alnus oblongifoUa occurs in Southern California and New 
Mexico as a tree 20 to 30 feet in height. 

923. The Oregon Alder (A. Oregona) is a tree growing to 50 
or GO feet in height, and sometimes two feet in diameter, near the 
ground. Like the other alders, it prefers the banks of streams. 
The wood is brittle, and not employed for useful purposes. 

Hornbea:! (Genus Carpinus). 

924. Of the genus Carpinus, about nine species are found in the 
North Temperate Zone of the Old and New World, and but one (C. 
Americana) is found native in the United States. It is known by va- 
rious common names, such as the " hop-hornbeam," from the clusters 
of fruit somewhat resembling hops, *' blue-beech," ''water or swamp 
beech," etc. It has the general habit of the beech, and its bark is 
smooth like that tree. The stem is generally somewhat fluted or 
angular, and it is of smaller size. The foliage becomes crimson, 
scarlet, and orange in autumn. 

925. The hornbeam occurs widely distributed throughout the At- 
lantic States and Canada; never in dense groves, but scattered 
through forests of other deciduous kinds. The w^ood is close, white, 
hard, and fine-grained, remarkably tough and strong, and well 
adapted to places where it is required to resist great pressure or fric- 
tion. When of sufficient size, the wood is useful in the mechanic 



234 The Hornbeams and the. Maples. 

arts, aud is suitable for the making of levers, tool-handles, and 
other articles requiring great strength. It forms an excellent fire- 
wood and material for charcoal used for cooking, or in forges, or for 
making gunpowder. 

92G. The European Hornbeam (Carpinus hetulus) is often culti- 
vated for screens and hedges in Europe, and it was thouglit by 
Michaux that it might be introduced with profit into the United 
States. Among its merits are the following : It bears pruning well, 
is not liable to disease, grows for a long time in a confined form, 
and does not injure the adjacent crops, probably because its roots 
draw their support from a greater depth ; it grows very close and 
twiggy, and retains its leaves late ; it endures a^ rough and windy 
situation, and grows well in a great variety of soils. 

927. It seeds abundantly, and when sown immediately, a few 
spring up the first year, but most of them not till the second year. 
The usual mode of cultivation is to sow in spring, at the rate of a 
bushel of clean seed to fifty yards of a bed four feet wide ; and as 
the seeds do not grow the first year, the ground may be occupied by 
some other light crop, such as onions, lettuce, raddish, or cabbage. 
They may be thinned out when one year old by transplanting to 
nursery rows, but the young plants do best if not taken u|) till they 
are two years old. In two years more, they will be suitable for set- 
ting in single hedge rows. Under cultivation, the hornbeam has 
produced cut-leaved and variegated forms that are propagated by 
layers for ornamental planting. 

The Maples (Genus Acer). 

928. The maples occur widely distributed in the Northern Temper- 
ate Zone upon both continents, and upon the eastern rather than upon 
the western sides. There are about fifty species described, of which 
nine or ten occur within the United States. They generally grow 
to trees of considerable size, take when planted ah)ne, a rounded, 
symmetrical form, and are highly prized for ornamental planting in 
village streets and by the wayside. 

929. The wood of the maples is generally light colored or with a 
reddish tinge, works smoothly, is not liable to warp or check, and is 
much valued for cabinet work. In some cases, the grain is curled 
or contorted in such a manner as to give it, wdien finished, a highly 
ornamental eflfect. 

930. The maple leaves in autumn take bright crimson and orange 




130. Carpinus h^f7(his.—ThQ European Hornbeam. 1. Twig, with two male and one 
female blossoms. 2. A fruitful stem, with leaves. 3,4. Male blossoms, from up- 
per, lower, and si'^e piiuts of view. 5. Asinj^le sced-r apsule, with section. 6. 
Leaf-cover, with t..e inclosed female blossoms, 7. A pair of female blossoms, 
with the envelop-i removed. 8. A sin<,'le pistil. 9. A ripe seed, with its threc- 
lobed seed-leaf. 10. The seed-capsule, separated and enlarged. 11. Transverse" 
section of the samo. 12. Th- perms, separated. 1:5. Twi?, with three leaf-buds 
above, aud two male flower-buds. li. Germ, as it first appears upou sproutiug. 



236 The Maples. 

colored tints, that give a cliaracteristic splendor to the woodlands 
during tlie few days tliat they remain after they are fairly ripe. 

931. The Sugar IMaple (Acer saccharinuni'). This tree, which 
is altogether tlie most valuable of the maples, is a native of Can- 
ada and the Northern States, extending southward along the mount- 
ains into the Carolinas, and westward to the Mississippi river. It 
is abundant in Western North Carolina, but it thrives best in a 
rather cool climate, and in a calcareous and loamy, rather than a 
sandy soil. In Canada it extends northward to a line running from 
the northeastern shore of Lake Superior to a short distance below 
Quebec, and thence northeastward to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
The " Maple Leaf" is a national emblem v.ith the Canadians, and the 
gorgeous splendor of the autumnal forests in the north is largely 
due to the colors assumed by the foliage of this tree at this season. 

932. The sugar maple grows to a height of sixty to eighty feet, 
and to a diameter of two feet and over. When planted alone, it as- 
sumes a rounded, symmetrical form, and it deservedly enjoys a high 
reputation as an ornamental tree in village and roadside planting, 
but it does not endure the dust and smoke of cities. When grown in 
woodlands, it assumes a tall, regular form, and it is often found in for- 
ests by itself, or mingled with beech, birch, hemlock, and other trees. 

933. Upon the prairies of Illinois this tree grows slow when 
young, but at length takes a more vigorous start, and becomes a 
fine tree. It will not grow witli entire success beyond the Missis- 
sippi, and fails altogether in Kansas and Nebraska. 

934. In the Northern States and in Canada, when tapped upon 
the approach of spring, and for a period of thirty or forty days, 
ending as the buds begin to swell, this tree yields a sweetish sap, 
which by evaporation may be reduced to syrup and to sugar of su- 
perior quality. Several million of pounds of this sugar are made 
every year, and upon some farms in Vermont and Northern New 
York more profit is realized from a maple woodland, than could pos- 
sibly be gained upon an equal area by any agricultural crop. Thei 
yield is usually two or three pounds to the tree in the season, but in 
exceptional caees it may be more. 

93'). From the limited experiments that have been made, it ap- 
pear?, that the sap of the maple contains more sugar in the early 
part of the season than toward its close, and that different trees 
vary in the amount of sugar, some giving much sweeter sap than 
others. As the buds begin to swell, the sap becomes " ropy," and 



The Maples. 237 

• 
gives off an offensive odor in boiling. It crystalizes with difficulty, 
and it is customary to use the last run, partly concentrated by boil- 
ing, for making vinegar, by exposing it to fermentation. 

936. The flow of sap is much influenced by meteorological con- 
ditions, and is best with freezing nights and thawing days, and in a 
damp atmosphere. It will sometimes flow by night, and a run may 
last two or three days, and then be suspended, from causes unknown, 
until another freezing night. The sap flows in drops, at the rate of 
from thirty to a hundred in a minute, and from three to four gal- 
lons will make a pound of sugar. 

937. The holes bored in a maple tree will close up in two or three 
years, and do not appear to injure the growth of the trees. They 
may be tapped annually from the time when they are ten or twelve 
inches in diameter till they are seventy or eighty years old, and a 
maple grove kept inclosed against cattle may be used perpetually 
lor sugar-making, the young trees coming on to replace those that 
are cut at full maturity. 

938. The Avood of the sugar maple is highly valued as a fuel and 
for cabinet work, and varieties known as "birds-eye" are highly 
valued for the making of veneers, affording some of the most beau- 
tiful of the woods used in ornamental work. 

939. The Black Maple {Acer nigrum) is commonly regarded as 
only a variety of the A. sacv.hariiim, and is equally valuable for the 
making of sugar, and its timber for all the uses to which the sugar- 
maple is applied. 

940. The Silver-leaf or River Maple (Acer dasycarpum). 
This and the next following species are often called "solt maples," 
or " white maples," from the texture and color of the wood. They 
bear fruit early in the season, and their seeds must be planted the 
same year, and while still fresh. 

941. This species is planted extensively as a shade tree in the 
Middle and Western States, and grows very rapidly, but the wood 
being brittle, the trees are liable to injury by the winds. In rich 
alluvial soils it grows to a large size ; but the tree is not long-lived, 
and its wood, although used for inside finishing and cabinet work, 
soon perishes when exposed to the weather. 

942. The silver maple is less common in the South than the red 
maple. In North Carolina it grows sometimes thirty or forty feet 
high, and the sap is sometimes made into sugar, which has a su- 



238 The Mapks, 

perior flavor and light color, but is not more than half as productive 
from a given measure of sap as the sugar maple of that region. 

943. Red Maple (^Acer ruhrmii). This tree derives its name 
from the color of its bright red blosscms, that appear early in the 
spring, and before the leaves. It is sometimes called ' ^vhite maple," 
from the color of its wood, and " swamp maple," from its favorite 
place of growth. It does not generally grow to so large a size, nor 
live to so great an age as the sugar maple. Its wood is lighter and 
softer, but is often used in cabinet work. It is not durable when 
exposed to the weather. When the grain is wavy it has, when fin- 
ished up, a beautiful glossy luster, affording the variety of fine 
woods known as the " curl maple." 

944. The red maple is found from Canada to Florida and Louis- 
irna, and through the Western States to Nebraska. It does not, in 
the regions further west, succeed under cultivation so well as the 
'* silver-leaf maple." The sap of the red maple is not so sweet as 
that of the sugar maple, and is seldom used in making sugar. The 
young bark affords, with copperas as a mordant, a purplish-black 
dye, occasionally used in coloring wool and cotton. 

945. In North Carolina this tree is found from the coast to -the 
mountains, sometimes seventy feet high and three to four feet in 
diameter. 

946. Striped Maple {Acer Penmylvanicinn) . This is generally 
a small slender tree, seldom growing in groves, but scattered here 
and there among other woods, and never growing to a large size, or 
living to so great an age as some other maples. The wood is white 
and soft, and the bark smooth, greenish, and marked with stripes. 
It is sometimes called " moose wood," " dogwood," or " dogmackie." 
It may be cultivated for ornament, but is not generally successful 
unless partly shaded by other trees. In North Carolina this tree is 
found on the mountains as a shrub, rarely ten feet high. 

947. The Mountain Mafi.b (Acer qyicatum). This is a shrub, 
generally growing in clumps from a common root, along rocky ra- 
vines in tlie Northern and Eastern States. It is too small for use, 
but will betr cultivation witli other shrubs, in a rocky soil. 

948. The Oregon or Large-leaved Maple (Acer macro- 
phyllum). This tree grows from fifty to ninety feet in height, and 
from two to three feet in diameter, and is distinguished by the size of 
its leaves, which are occasionally a foot across, and usually from 6 to 10 



The Maples, 239 

inches. It seldom grows alone in much abundance, but Is scattered 
through the evergreen forests, and seldom growing to as large a size 
as the sugar maple. 

949. It occurs in mountain ravines from Santa Barbara north- 
ward to British Columbia, where it is found on Vancouver and ad- 
jacent islands, and on the immediate coast of the mainland, never 
inland, and scarcely beyond [)5° north latitude. It there forms a 
small tree, sometimes a foot in diameter. In California it chiefly 
occurs on the Coast Range. The young branches present green 
stripes, not unlike those characteristic of the striped maple of the 
Atlantic States. 

950. The wood is close-grained, hard, takes a beautiful polish, 
and the grain is sometimes twisted and curled, giving it a highly 
ornamental appearance. 

951. The Vine Maple (^Acer circinatum) . This is also jjeculiar 
to the Pacific Coast, growing in pine forests from Northern California 
to Oregon, and always near the coast. It is a shrub, growing some- 
times 30 to 40 feet in height, and rarely a foot in diameter, and 
usually in several slender trunks springing from one root, as in the 
mountain maple of the Atlantu) States. These do not grow up- 
right, but, arching down, touch the ground, and there taking root, 
present a tangled thicket most difficult to penetrate. It prefers 
moist deep soils. Its leaves much resemble those of tlie sugar 
maple, and its wood is very tough and strong, heavy, white, close- 
grained, and sometimes twisted in its grain. It is used in making 
axe-helves and tool-handles, but is generally too small for cabinet 
work, although otherwise well adapted to this use. 

952. The Smooth Maple (J.cer glabrum). This is an unim- 
portant shrub, found from Colorado and New Mexico eastward to 
California, and from Yosemite northward. It is too small for use- 
ful purposes, and grows chiefly in damp mountain ravines. 

953. The Box-Elder, or Ash -leaved Maple (Kegundo acer- 
oides). There are four species of the Negundo, of which the At-^ 
lantic States, the Pacific Coast, Mexico and Japan, have each one. 
It is so nearly allied to the maples that it has, by some botanists, 
been classed with them as the Acer negundo. 

954. The box-elder, in the Atlantic States, is somewhat southern 
in its habits. In North Carolina it is found most common in the 
middle portion of the state, along the borders of the streams, grow- 



240 The 3faples and the Box- Elders. 

iDir from 15 to 25 feet in hei^rht. It is rare in the lower district. 
Further north it takes a larger growth, and it is found northward 
as far as Southern New York. 

955. In the Western States, along the Mississippi and beyond, it 
grows well, aud it occurs out on the plains, in the timber belts that 
fringe the rivers and streams, about as far west as any tree can be 
found. 

95G. Under its best conditions this tree grows to the height of 
70 feet, but it is usually much less. It grows very rapidly, and 
comes to maturity in from twenty to thirty years. It is among the best 
of trees to cultivate for avenues and along public roads, and under 
cultivation it has produced some varieties having bleached and yel- 
lowish foliage, that gives it a fine appearance in ornamental planting. 

957. Although it prefers low rich grounds, it bears a drouth very 
well, and in the more westerly states, on the borders of the Great 
Plains, it deserves much attention as easily propagated, and likely 
to succeed where many other kinds Avould fail. 

958. In the Western aud Northwestern States, the sap of this 
tree is made into sugar aud syrup of excellent quality and flavor, 
but less in amount than that from the sugar maple. 

959. As the staminate and pistilate flowers of the box elder grow 
upon different trees, the seeds must be gathered in groves where 
both kinds occur. The former are easily distinguished when in blos- 
som by the stamens hanging in groups springing from common 
points, by slender hairy stems, Avith four or five anthers at the end, 
while the fertile blossoms show the rudiments of the future wings 
of the seed, and have two pistils coming out between them. 

960. The California Box Elder (Negwido Calif orniensis). 
Tins is commonly a small tree, but rarely it grows to the height of 
70 feet. It occurs along streams, following the coast range in Cal- 
ifornia, from San Luis Obispo northward, but not into British Co- 
lumbia. Its leaves are smaller and narrower than those of the other 
species, aud they are more coarsely toothed ; otherwise there is 
much resemblance between them. 

The Linden or Basswood Family (TUiacece). 

961. About thirty genera belong to this family, chiefly occurring 
in the torrid and south temperate zones. They are mostly trees, 
often of great size, with handsome flowers and foliage, a mucilagiu- 



The Basswoods. 241 

ous juice, and tough, stringy inner bark. Some of them yield a 
succulent and edible fruit. The wood is soft, light, and in some 
species very elastic. The jute of commerce, a much esteemed 
fibrous plant of annual growth, belongs to this natural order. 

9G2. Europe has several native species of the Tilia, of which the 
T. parvifolia is supposed to be the only one native of Britain, al- 
though the T. Europea, T. cjrandifolia^ and other species, have been 
long under cultivation, and trees occur several hundred years old. 
The tree is there chiefly propagated by layers, when raised for orna- 
mental planting, and by this means various ragged-leaved, silver- 
leaved, and other curious varieties are continued. 

963. The linden is a great favorite for ornamental planting- in 
Holland and elsewhere in Euroj^e. The lirge leaved species grows 
to the largest size, and reaches the greatest age. In Russia, the 
inner bark of the basswood is made into textile fabrics, cordage, and 
the like. The wood is sometimes ground into pulp for paper. 

9G4. Our common basswood, linden, or lime-tree of the Atlantic 
States and Canada (Tilia Americana), is by far the most widely dis- 
tributed of the four species found native in the United States. It 
grows to a large size, but when old is very apt to become hollow. The 
wood is very white, light, uniform in texture, not liable to crack or 
split, is quite tough, and when sawn into thin boards, may be read- 
ily bent into curves. It is much prized for cabinet w^ares and the 
panels of carriages, and its lumber is much used for carving and for 
finishing the inside work of houses, but it does not bear exposure to 
the weather well, unless painted. When thoroughly seasoned and 
painted, it makes an excellent material for outside work, as it re- 
ceives and holds the paint well. 

965. The basswood, when standing alone, takes a finely rounded 
form, and it is one of the best of trees for avenues. The blossoms 
abound in honey, and in bee-keeping this tree affords a most excel- 
lent source of supply. 

966. The Wpiite Linns ( Tilia heterophyUa and T. alba) and the 
Southern Linn (T. pubescens) are much less widely distributed, being 
southern and western, and the latter a tree of large size. 

967. The basswood loves a deep, rich, and humid soil, and under 
favorable conditions it grows quite rapidly. It is generally consid- 
ered an indication of a good soil. It seldom occurs in groves by it- 
self, but is scattered among other deciduous trees, often in clumps, 



212 



The Bass wood. 




131. Tilia parvifolia: The Small-lcavcd Basswoo'l. 1. A sprii?, with blossoms and 
leaves 2, 3. The blossoms from upper and under points of view. 4. 5. Trans- 
verse and lonijitudinal sections of a fruit-bud. 6. Pistil. 7. The fruit. S. Sec 
tlou of the same. 'J. Section of the seed. 10. Twig, with buds. 11. \ouu- 
sprout. 



The Elms, 



243 



as if from sprouts that have come up around a tree that has decayed. 
It is easily cultivated from the seed, which should generally be 
planted in the autumn of the same year that they ripen. For or- 
namental planting, they should be started in seed-beds, and then 
transplanted into nursery rows. 

The Elms (Genus Ulmus). 

968. About sixteen species and numerous varieties of the elm 
arc kno^yn to botanists, chiefly in the north temperate zone of both 
continents, or upon mountains within the tropics. They are for the 
most part trees of rapid growth, and attaining a large size, and the 
wood is strong, tough, fibrous, difficult to split, and useful for a 
great variety of purposes. It is generally very durable under 
water, and its quality is much influenced by the conditions of soil, 
humidity, and temperature under which it has grown. The seeds 
ripen early in summer, and should be sown the same year. 








(b.) 



(d.) 



132. Differences in the Growth of Elms. —Sections oi the Elm: (a.) From Canada— The 
layers of growth so thin that they can scarcely be distinguished. (/>.) From 
Dunlcirlv, France — Wood very strong, and grown in deep humid soil, (c.) From 
the battle-field of Toulon— Grown on a sub-soil that is very damp, but owing 
to the heat of the climate the wood is strong, (d.) From Provence, France — 
Grown on soil that is less humid. 

969. The White Elm (Ulmus Americana). This tree is justly 
valued as one of the best for ornamental plantations, and one of 
the most graceful in form. The branches generally divide at ten 
or fifteen feet above the ground, and gradually diverging as they 
rise, spread out on every side and then descend, giving the tree an 
urn-shaped form, that at once distinguishes it at a great distance 
from all other forest trees. Some of the New England towns and 
villages, especially along the Connecticut river, present magnificent 
•avenues of this tree. 

970. The quality of the wood is generally excellent, as it is very 



244 



The Elms. 



tough, strong, aud flexible. It is miicli used for hoops, carriage 
and wagon making, cheese boxes, and bent-work generally, and is 
an excellent timber in carpentry, but very apt to shrink and warp 
when sawn into boards. 

971. The "Rock Elm," as a variety of this species is ct^lled, is 
particularly prized f(jr wagon hubs, and although this tree occurs 
from tlie Carolinas to Canada, and westward to the Mississippi, tlie 
best qualities for this use are found in New England and New York. 
A fine quality is also found in some parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
and Indiana. In the rock elm, about five feet of the butt is all that 
can be used for hubs, and the best qualities are found in trees 
grown in an open space and freely exposed to the sun and air. For 
this use the trees should be cut in December or January. The inner 
bark should be left on, and the sticks should not be left long on tlie 
ground. After remaining in cross-piles for two months, they should 
be cut into blocks for further curing, and the ends dipped in melted 
lard and rosin, to prevent them from checking. In this condition 
they should be left under shelter till dry. 




133. Leaves of the Red Elm. 

" 972. The Slippery or Eed Elm {Ulmus fulva). This tree, 
is scattered over most of the Northern and Western States. It 
grows to a large size, but has not the graceful form of the common 
American elm. The wood is very durable, when not in contact 
"with the ground, and is of a reddish tinge, that gives it the common 
name. The leaves are coarser and more corrugated than the kind 
above mentioned, and the inner bark is highly mucilaginous when 



The Elms. 245 

steeped iu water, giving it valuable medicinal properties, as a de- 
mulcent drink, and for emollient poultices. This material, Avheu 
thoroughly dried, cut small, and ground in a mill, is an article of 
commerce, and is kept by most druggists. 

973. A writer iu Iowa, in speaking of the cultivation of the red 
elm remarks, that this tree has not received the attention that it 
merits, and sums up its good qualities as follows : 

1. It is hardy, even in the most exposed position on the prairies. 

2. It grows on rich soil with great rapidity. 

3. The seeds are easily gathered, and require no great skill in 
handling and planting. 

4. It is unusually free from disease and injury from insects. 

5. It has a large proportion of heart-wood, even when young. 

6. When grown thickly in groves, it runs up straight and tall, 
and when the poles are large enough to split for two rails, it may 
be divided as easily as the chestnut. AVhen laid as rails, or nailed 
to posts, they are very durable. 

7. When large enough for vine-stakes, if cut in summer, peeled, 
and dried before setting, they will last well. 

974. The Cork Elm (JJlmus racemosa). This derives its name 
from the corky excrescences on the bark of the young twigs and 
small branches, although this character is far from being con- 
stant, nor is it limited to this species. This tree occurs in Kew 
England. New York, and westward, and often grows to a large size. 
Its foliage is of a darker green, and its wood harder, stronger, and 
more durable than that of the preceding species. 

975. The Small-leaved Elm (Ulmus alata), sometimes called 
the " wahoo," is a southern species, and grows to a smaller size than 
the white or red elm, but it has a very compact wood, which is 
much used for the naves of wheels, and is even preferred to the 
bhick-gum for this purpose. From the inner bark a rope is some- 
times made, which has been used in bai^ffiuo: cotton. 

976. The English Elm {Uhnus campedrk). This is a favorite 
tree for ornamental planting in Great Britain, and has been intro- 
duced in many parts of the United States. Some of the finest elms 
in Boston are of this species. As to its merits for city planting Mr. 
Emerson remarks : "I have been unable to compare satisfactorily the 
rapidity of its growth with that of the American elm, but probably in 
its best condition the latter is of far more rapid growth, although in 



246 



The Elms, 



the ordinary situations where the elm is planted, and where it gen- 
erally suffers from insufficiency of root moisture, the European elm 
is immeasurably its superior in rapidity of growth, length of life, 
and general thriftiness. The fact that the European is fully a 




>/><W~'^<S^ 



134. Ulmus campestHs— English. Elm. 

month longer in leaf than the American elm, that its tougher 
leaves would seem to offer a less appetizing food to the canker-worm, 
the greatest enemy to the American elm in New England, and its 
adaptability to all situations are strong arguments in favor of giv- 
ing the preference to the former for general cultivation. Its 



The Osage Orange, 247 

tliriftiness in smoky situations makes the European elm the most 
valuable tree our climate will allow for city, street, and square 
planting, and as a shade tree by road-sides no American tree is its 
equal."^ 

977. The quality of the timber of this species is acknowledged to 
be superior to that of our native species, and it well deserves atten- 
tion for cultivation as a timber-tree. All of the elms afford in their 
ashes a large amount of potash, and hence a top dressing of wood 
ashes is of great advantage in their cultivation. 

978. The Wycii Elm (^Ulmus montana). This is also a European 
species, often planted in parks. It grows to a large size, and more 
resembles the red than the white elm. 

The Planer a (Planera aquatica). 

979. This is a southern tree, found growing in river swamps from 
North Carolina southward. It has the general habit of the elms, 
but is of no special importance in forest-culture. 

The Osage Oeange {Madura aurantiaca), 

980. This tree, sometimes called bois-d'arc (bow-wood), is found 
native in the South-western States, in Texas, Arkansas, and Indian 
Territory, sometimes growing to the height of fifty to seventy feet, and 
to a diameter of three or four feet. The wood is there found to be ex- 
tremely durable for stakes and posts, and is much prized for wagon- 
making, on account of its hardness and slight tendency to shrink. 
In its native region it grows best on a strong alluvial soil, but grows 
well in other situations, excepting where the soil is damp, and with- 
out drainage. It begins to bear fruit when about eight years old, 
and the ripe " apples " are readily eaten by cattle. 

981. It can be cultivated for timber in the South-WTstern States 
very successfully in strong bottom lands, by preparing the land, 
planting and cultivating for the first year or two, in the same way 
as for corn. They must be thinned out to 12 or 16 feet apart, and 
be trimmed up, in order to secure a straight body and a fine growth, 
but not more than is necessary to prevent the branches from inter- 
locking or crowding too close. When standing alone, it makes a 
low spreading tree, with but little trunk. It therefore requires 
side-shading or trimming to make it grow high. As grown in the 

^Agriculture of Mass., 1875-G, p. 272. 



248 The Osage Orange: The 3Iulherries. 

south-west, it makes a fire-wood of the best quality, nearly or quite 
equal to hickory. 

982. The sap-wood is perishable, but the heart-wood is very dura- 
ble. If cut iu winter or spring, it is liable to the attack of borers, 
but generally not when cut in August or early in autumn. The 
wood is very easily split, and is therefore unfit for hubs, although 
very suitable for spokes. From its great durability when exposed 
to the weather, it is very well adapted for agricultural implements. 
The Avood has a very rich orange color, becoming darker with age, 
and rendering it valuable for ornamental cabinet work. 

983. The osage orange is not a tree of rapid growth. It will re- 
quire from twelve to fifteen years for it to become large enough for 
fence-posts, and some twenty-five or thirty years for railroad ties. 
From its hardness and tendency to split, it is necessary to bore holes 
before driving spikes. When planted at four feet apart, it will 
need cultivation for four or five years, and it will need to be thinned 
out in from eight to twelve years, according to the stage of its 
growth and the fertility of the soil. As the staminate and pistilate 
flowers of the osage orange grow in dificrent trees, the seeds must 
be gathered in its native region, where both sexes of the tree are 
found growing. But one species is known to botanists. 

The Mulberry (Genus Morus). 

984. Some writers describe from ten to twelve species of this 
genus, while others reduce them to five. They are found in the 
north temperate zone, and within the tropics of both the old and 
new world, and are of great economical interest from the fact that 
their leaves form the principal food of the silk-worm. 

985. We have within the United States a native species, the Ked 
Mulberry (Morns rubra), that is widely diffused, being fmnd in 
most of the Atlantic States, and sometimes growing to the height 
of sixty to seventy feet, with a diameter of two feet. The wood is 
strong, solid, and durable, and much valued as fence-posts, and for 
ship-building. From experiments that have been made in the feed- 
ing of silk worms upon the leaves of the red mulberry, it appears 
that the quantity of silk produced is less, and that the worms are 
more liable to disease. 

986. The White Mulbery (Morns alba) has been introduced in 
many places, under the name of ^'Morus multlcaulis" for the feeding 
of silk worms, and a mania of specidation led to attempts at its cal- 



The 31albcrHes. 



249 



tlvation In many regions where a little reason would have shown 
that it was utterly hopeless. The white mulberry is made to grow 
without difficulty in most parts of the Middle, Southern, and West- 
ern States, and, under intelligent direction, the silk industry may 
doubtless in many places be carried on with profit. It is propagated 




135. The Mulberry Leaves and Fruit. 

by cutting and layers, and requires a warm, dry soil, and will suc- 
ceed in almost any place that will bear a good corn crop. There 
are many varieties under cultivation, and many special jDublications 
have been issued, giving directions for their management. 

987. The Russian Mulberry. This tree, which seems to be 
closely allied to the Morus nigra, or black mulberry, and the M. 
Tartarica, a native of Russia, has in recent years been introduced by 
Mennonite emigrants, and is found to thrive very well in the West- 
ern States. Trees six years old are found eight inches in diameter 
and sixteen feet high. The berries may be eaten fresh, or made 
into jellies, wine, and preserves. Most of them are black, but some 
of a reddish white, with an aromatic odor and sub-acid, sweetish 
taste. 

988. The Mennonites set this as a hedge plant, and its leaves are 
said to be valuable for feeding silk worms. It is easily transplanted, 
and the timber is excellent for fence posts. For hedges, the plants 
should be set a foot apart, and they should be kept cut back to 



250 The TIackherry : The Tulip- Tree. 

make them thicken up and spread at the bottom. It may be culti- 
vated aloue or with other timber in groves, and it makes, when set 
alone, a handsome street or lawn tree. The Russian mulberry is 
thought by some to be more valuable than the gray willow or the 
Cottonwood, it being useful from its shelter, its fruit, and its wood. 
It is grown from cuttings. 

The Hackberry (Genus Celtis). 

989. Over seventy species of this genus are found in the Torrid and 
North Temperate Zones of both hemispheres. The C. oinentalis, 
most cultivated in Europe, much resembles the beech in appearance 
and in the color of the bark. Its wood is very hard, but is not much 
cultivated as a forest tree. It is sometimes called the *' nettle-tree." 

990. The American hackberry (C. occidentalis) is somewhat 
southern in its native locality, but is found scattered here and there 
throughout the I^orthern, Middle, and Western States. When 
planted, it starts very slowly at first, but when it has passed a cer- 
tain stage of delay, it will start and grow vigorously. It extends 
from New England and Canada to Oregon, and southward to 
Florida, Texas, and New Mexico. In the Wahsatch mountains, it 
grows to an elevation of from 4,200 to 6,500 feet above tide. It is 
one of the species that deserves attention in planting upon the 
western plains. 

The Tulip-Tree {Liriodendron tullpljerd). 

991. This tree belongs to the magnolia family, and is known by 
various popular names, as the " wdiite-wood," the '* yellow^ poplar," and 
the '' tulip-poplar." It is the only species belonging to the genus. It 
grows to a magnificent size, with a cylindrical trunk, an open, rounded 
head, a dark, ash-colored bark, somewhat square, truncated, decidu- 
ous leaves, and large, greenish-yellow, but not fragrant flowers. 
The bark of the root and branches is bitter and aromatic, acting as 
as a diaphoretic and tonic, and is sometimes used in the treatment 
of intermittent fever and chronic rheumatism. These properties 
are extracted by alcohol, or it may be used as a powder. 

992. It affords a lumber of great excellence for floors, ceiling, 
and cabinet wx)rk, and for inside finishing, but it does not, unless 
protected by paint, endure well in the open air. Being soft and 
easily worked, it takes tlie place of pine for inside work of houses, 
and paper has been made from the bark. 



The Talip- Tree : The Sycamore. 251 

993. In speaking of the uses of this wood, Mr. Emerson re- 
marks:^ *'In New England, it is preferred to all other kinds of 
Avood, in all uses which require great flexibility, as about stairs, for 
the wash-board, in circular rooms, and for the panels of carriages; 
also for the bottom of drawers, and for panels in common ward- 
robes, and other small articles." 

994. The tulip-tree grows to magnificent size, preferring a moist, 
rich soil, and in good situations it grows to 100 and even 150 feet 
in height, and from six to nine and even ten feet in diameter. 

995. The nature of the soil has an effect on the color and quality 
of the wood, and in West Virginia, where it grows to great per- 
fection, mechanics class the wood as white, blue, or yellow, but 
these can not be determined by external signs. The white variety 
prefers a dry, elevated, and gravelly ground ; it has a branching 
head, with a small amount of heart-wood, and has a coarser and 
harder grain and a less durability than the other varieties. The 
blue has nearly the same characters. The yellow is by far the 
finest, and is extensively used for lumber and shingles. It affords 
a good foundation for veneers, and is much used in cabinet work. 

996. The tulip-tree is readily propagated from seed, and should 
he sown in a fine, soft mold, in a cool and shady place. If sown in 
the same autumn of its growth, it will germinate the next spring; 
but if sown in spring, it may not sprout till the next year. 

997. This tree is lathcr difficult to transplant, and the end of the 
root should be cut off with a sharp knife when it is taken from the 
seed-bed and set in a new place. The development of lateral fibers 
may be encouraged in the same manner as we elsewhere describe for 
the oak. The tulip-tree occurred native in Canada, west of the Ni- 
agara river, but much of it has been cut away. 

The Plane-Tkee, Buttonwood, or Sycamore (Genus Platanus), 

998. This is the only genus of the natural order Platanece, Siud it 
embraces five or six species, natives of the Northern Hemisphere, in 
the Old World and the New. They are of rapid growth, and, f )r the 
most part, thrive only along river banks and in deep, rich, alluvial 
soil. 

999. The Common Buttonwood of the Atlantic States (Platanus 
occidentalls) has a wide range in the Atlantic States, and grows to a 

i"2Vecs of Massachusetts,'' 2(1 ed., p. COG. 



252 The Sycamores, 

larirc size vi ricli and liiimid soils aloiio; tlie rivers and In low 
groimds, reaching its greatest development in the Western and 
South-western Spates. In Canada, it is chiefly limited to the penin- 
sula "West of Niagara river. When found of a very large size, 
it is very often quite hollow, but this does not prevent it from grow- 
ing to a great age. 

1000. This tree is distinguished by the smoothness and whiteness 
of its bark in the middle and upper part of its trunk and branches. 
The outer bark flails off in large, irregular scales, leaving a surface 
which, in winter, is very white, but gradually becomes darker col- 
ored. This striking feature in winter enables one to observe the 
course of a stream for a great distance by the line of sycamores 
along its banks. 

1001. The seeds of this tree form a compact, spherical ball, which 
remains on till spring, when it falls off and the seeds scatter, just as 
the leaves are about to open. This tree is very easily cultivated, 
and bears the smoke and dust of cities better than many other 
kinds, perhaps from the shedding of its outer bark from time to 
time. 

1002. Our native plane-tree is perfectly naturalized in Europe, 
and grows rapidly and to a great size. It is chiefly planted along 
public roads and canals, and in parks and pleasure grounds, growing 
best on deep, humid soils, and in sheltered localities. The wood is 
much esteemed for cabinet wares, and for this use is reputed as dur- 
able as the oak, but it does not bear exposure to the weather well. 
The sycamore is easily propagated from the seed, or from cuttings 
or layers. The seedlings need protection at first, but they grow 
rapidly, and will bear transplanting early. 

1003. The Mexican Sycamore (P. racemosa) is found extending 
into Southern California, and grows to a majestic tree, sometimes six 
feet in diameter and a hundred feet high. Like the species in the 
Atlantic States, it thrives along rivers, its bark exfoliates in large 
flakes, and its general habit is much the same. The leaves are, 
however, more deeply cut, polished, and of darker green, and the 
bark remarkably white. The fruit grows in racimes of from three 
to six, instead of being solitary, as in the common species. The 
wood is very brittle. 

1004. The Oriental Plane-Tree (P. orientalk), in its native 



The Horse- Chestnuts, etc. 



253 



climate, grows to magnificent size, 
but as cultivated in Europe it does f 
not equal our common American | 
species. It is said to have been in- 
troduced into England about the 
middle of the sixteenth century, and 

is often found in parks, but is not 136. Cross-section of the Wood of 

IT . , , the Ptatanus orientalis, 

valued as a timber-tree. 





137. Platanus racemosa. (Leaf and Fruit, one-half the Natural Size.) 

The Horse-Chestnuts, Buckeyes, etc. (Genus jEscuIus). 
1005. The genus ^sculus embraces about fifteen species, half of 



254 



The Horse- Chestnuts. 



which occur in North America, and the rest in Asia. Their hark is 
bitter and astringent, and h.^s been used in some species for tanning. 
The seeds contain a bitter principle that renders them unpalatable, 
but it is said that starch has been made from them that was equal to 
that from wheat. 

1006. The Horse-Chestnut (^sculus hippocastanum). This is 
a native of Asia, but is found perfectly well adapted to the North- 







138. The Horse-chestnut Tree, 






ern and Middle States, and is noted for the beauty of its flowers 
and its stately and rapid growth. It is better suited for lawns than 
for avenues, and is not of much value as a timber-tree. There are 
a considerable number of varieties distinguished by the color of the 
foliage and blossoms, and the habit of growth. 

1007. The Ohio Buckeye (jEi^cuIus glabra). This tree grows from 
Western Pennsylvania and Virginia westward to beyond the Mis- 
sissippi, and is most abundant in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. It 
is a small tree, with a rough bark, Avhich has an unpleasant odor. 
Its fruit is less than half the size of that of the horse-chestnut. 



The Buckeyes, 255 

1008. The Sweet or Big Buckeye (jEscuIks flma). This oc- 
curs in the Western States and on the mountains in the Southern 
States, as a tree from 60 to 80 feet in heiglit, and 3 to 4 feet in di- 
ameter. Upon the lowlands in the south it is a shrub from 8 to 6 
feet high. It prefers the banks of rivers, and is an indication of a 
rich soil. The seeds are larger than those of the common horse- 
chestnut. 

1009. The Small Buckeye {^Esculns iiavid). This is a shrub 
from 3 to 10 feet high, found growing in fertile valleys from Vir- 
ginia southward to Georgia, and westward to Arkansas. It some- 
times grows to a small tree. The root is used as a substitute for 
soap. 

1010. The yEsculus 'parviflora is a small shrub found in South 
Carolina and Georgia, from 2 to 4 feet high, with a fruit said to be 
edible. 

1011. The Caifornia Buckeye (v^da^^ws CaUfornica). This is 
a shrub seldom growing more than tweuty feet high, or more than 
a foot in diameter. It puts forth flowers in successive crops during 
most of the spring and summer, and for this reas in may be desir- 
able for ornamental planting, although of no account as a timber- 
tree, as its wood is soft and brittle. It occurs from San Luis Obispo 
to Mendocino Co. and Mt. Shasta, and on the foot-hills of the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains. 

1012. The Texas Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa). This occurs 
in Texas, where it forms a- small shrub or tree, with brittle wood, 
alternate and unequally pinnate leaves, and showy rose-colored blos- 
soms. The seeds are sweet-tasted like tlie walnuts, but are said to 
possess emetic properties. It somewhat resembles the hickories in 
its leaves, but more the horse-chestnut in its fruit. 

1013. The Soapberry {Sapindus mponarid). This is a small 
tree, growing upon the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, from 
20 to 50 feet in height. It derives its name from the soap-like 
properties of the fruit, which, when pounded up, forms a lather 
witli soft w^ater, and may be used instead of soap. When bruised 
and thrown into water, the fruit will intoxicate fish. This tree be- 
longs to the same family as the buckeyes. There are one or two 
other species in the southwest. There are about forty species of the 
Sapindus known, chiefly found in the tropical and sub tropical cli- 
mates, in which alone it can be cultivated with success. 



256 



The Locust^ and nearly related Genera, 



THE LOCUST. 

1014. The Common Locust (Eobinia pseudacacia). This is some- 
times called the " black locust," the ''yellow locust," or the " false 
acacia," and occurs native west of the Alleghenies from Pennsylva- 
nia to Arkansas. In the Carolinas, it is found native only in the 



I 



ihiM 



u§- 










139. Leaves and Flower of the ^Escnliis Californica, of one-half the 
Natural Size. (See page 255.) 

lower mountain ridges, but it is thought that it once grew wild at 
some distance east of the Blue Eidge, where it is not now found in 
its native state. 

1015. It is widely diffused by cultivation in all the Atlantic 
States and in Europe. The rapidity of its growth, the beauty of its 



The Locust. 257 

"blossoms, the solidity and durability of its wood, have heretofore 
led to high expectations of great profit in its planting ; and in the 
early settlement of the prairie region of Illinois and elsewhere, it 
was for many years a great favorite. 

1016. These hopes were in many regions so effectually disap- 
pointed by the ''borers" that the trees not wholly destroyed by 
them were to a great extent cut down, and the planting discon- 
tinued. The most destructive of these borers are the larvse of the 
Cyllene pida,^ already noticed [§ 721], although there arc two or 
three other species that commit great injuries. One of these is a 
little reddish caterpillar, that bores into the pith of the twigs, which 
become spongy and brittle. Another is a large grub of an insect, 
which in its perfect state is a moth. These bore upwards and down- 
wards, in oblique directions, in the solid wood, the holes increasing 
in size as they grow, and finally coming through the bark to the 
outside of the trunk. 

1017. The locust does not generally succeed well when grown in 
company with other trees. It is, however, thought by some that 
when planted alternately with the box-elder, it is less liable to the 
attack of borers.^ The age at which a locust coppice should be cut 
depends much on the uses to which it is to be applied. At ten or 
fifteen years it yields excellent poles for fencing and other use, but 
the timber is of greatest value when kept properly thinned out, at 
forty or fifty years. Upon the banks of streams, and in light shift- 
ing sands, it takes a remarkable growth, as it also does upon shel- 
tered slopes in a hilly region, where it gets a good exposure to the 
air and light. It is more profitable to plant it in clumps or groups 
in these favorite spots than over great areas. Its strong tendency 
to sprout renders it inconvenient on the borders of cultivated 
grounds. 

1018. The locust, under cultivation, produces many varieties, 
some with upright and others with pendant or twisted and deformed 
branches. It is in some varieties thornless, and in others the leaves 

^ Known as the Cossus Rohlnae^ as named by Professor Peck, by whom it 
was supposed that it remained three years in the caterpillar slate The 
same insect, or some one very nearly like it, perforates the trunks of the 
red oak. 

^lowa Forestry Annual, 1881, p. 15. 

17 



258 The Locust, Coffee- Tree, etc. 

fire crisped or otherwise deformed, aud the flowers assume various 
yellow aud piuk colors, aud differeut sizes aud forms of growth. 
From its tracing roots it sends up sprouts in great abundance, and 
it may be propagated from tliese with great facility. 

1019. The wood of the locust is fine grained, yellowish, hard, and 
very durable. For this reason, it is much used for trenails of ves- 
sels. It is also very durable as posts and for studding of wainscot^ 
in damp situations. 

1020. The Clammy Locust (Rohinia viscosa). This is a small 
tree, native in the mountains from Southern North Carolina to 
Georgia, where it grows to the height of forty-feet. It derives its 
name from a glandular-viscid secretion upon the pods, leaf-stems, 
and twigs. 

1021. The Rose-Locust (Bobinia hispida). This is a small and 
liispid species, found upon tlie mountains of the Carolinas and 
Georgia aud in pine barrens. It is sometimes cultivated for orna- 
ment, the blossoms being twice the size of the common locust and 
of a rose-red tinge. 

1022. Kentucky Coffee -Tree ((T?/m?iocZa J MS Canadensis). This 
tree, one of the leguminous family,* grows native iu the Western 
States, and to great perfection iu Kentucky and the southern parts 
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. It occurs iu Western New York 
and west of the Niagara river iu Canada, and extends westward to 
Nebraska. Under the most favorable conditions, it grows from 
sixty to eighty feet iu height. The bark is rough, the branches 
stout and abruptly terminated, appearing in winter like a dead 
tree. It has doubly pinnate leaves, a dense fine-grained wood, suit- 
able for cabinet work. It is readily propagated from the seeds, but 
these must be scalded and left soaking iu warm water for some 
hours before planting. 

1023. The Honey -Locust (Gleditsckia tricanthos). This tree is 
found widely diffused, but grows to greatest size iu the Southern 
States. It is nowhere abundant, but often cultivated for ornament, 
and affords an excellent tree for hedges. Iu favorable circumstances, 
it grows to the height of fifty feet or more, with a diameter of two 
to three feet. The wood is hard, close-grained, and suitable for 
many uses iu manufactures, and is said to be very durable w'lieu 
used as posts. It extends westward into Iowa and Nebraska, aud 
southward to Mississippi. 



The Red-Bud: The Acacias. 259 

1024. This species offers many inducements for planting. It is 
not troublesome from sprouting, as is the common locust ; it is far 
less liable to insect injuries, and after the first year it is hardy. It 
bears transplanting much more easily than most other trees. 

1025. The Water-Locust {Gleditschia 7nonosperma). This is a 
small tree, growing in swamps along the Gulf States and as far 
northward as Southern Illinois. It is of but small size, and the 
wood of little value. 

1026. Ked-Bud or Judas-Tree (Cercis Canadensis'). This is a 
small but highly ornamental tree, which is covered in spring with 
briglit red blossoms. One of its common names was given by Ger- 
ard, an old English gardener (1596), who says that ''this is the 
tree whereon Judas did hange himselfe, and not upon ye elder, as it is 
said." The common European species is the C. dliquastrimi. 

1027. The red-bud is found native on river banks from New 
Jersey southward to Florida, and iu the Western States. It grows 
to the height of from 15 to 30 feet, and is often cultivated for orna- 
ment. The small, deep, rose-colored flowers appear before the 
leaves, in clumps of 4 to 8, in March and April. The fruit has an 

acid taste. 

The Acacias. 

1028. The genus Acacia numbers about 400 species, chiefly 
found in warm climates, and most abundant in Australia and 
Africa. We have about a dozen native species, chiefly herb- 
aceous, on the southern borders of the United States, and one 
(^4. Greggii) in California. Several species of the Wattle (^Acacia 
pycnantha — the " broad leaf^" " golden," and " green" wattle ; A. de- 
currens, the "black" wattle; and A. dealhata, or ''silver" w^attle) 
are extensively used in Australia, and exported from thence as a 
tanning material. The wattles grow readily on loose, sandy soil, 
and might be cultivated iu the milder regions of the United States, 
and especially on the Pacific coast. 

1029. The wood is tough, hard, and durable, and is used for 
staves, spokes of wheels, tool handles, and many other purposes. 
The acacias exude a gum that has commercial value, and furnish 
excellent firew^ood. The quality of the bark for tanning depends 
much upon the soil, and it is of much less value when grown upon 
a limestone formation. The tree is not long lived, and it is at its 
prime when about ten years old, at which age the wood is nine or 



260 The Acacias: The Pears and Apples. 

ten inches in diameter. In extreme cases, it becomes two feet 
thick. The yiehl of tanning extract varies from thirty to forty -five 
per cent. 

1030. The Victoria Myall (Acacia homalophylla). This has a 
dark-brown wood, and is much used for turner's work, and is valued 
on account of its solidity and fragrance. It is also much used for 
the manufacture of tobacco jDipes. 

lOol. The Blackwood {A. melanoxyhii) grows on river flats and 
in moist, fertile valleys. In irrigated valleys and a deep soil, it 
will attain a height of eighty feet, and several feet in diameter. 
The wood is prized for furniture, railway carriages, boat building, 
billiard tables, the sounding-boards of pianos, etc., and for veneers. 
It takes a fine polish, and is fully equal to the best of walnut. It 
bends very well when steamed. 

1032. Yellow-wood (Ciadrastis tinctoria). This species, de- 
scribed by Michaux as the " VirgiUa latea" and often known among 
nurserymen as the " virgilia,"^ occurs native in deep, fertile soil in 
Western Tennessee and in Kentucky, growing, as a tree, from 
twenty to forty feet high, and sometimes a foot in diameter. It has 
a smooth, greenish bark, and a yellow heart-wood, which im- 
parts its color to water, and is used as a domestic dye. It bears 
large, white flowers, and is cultivated successfully for ornament in 
the middle latitudes, and as far north as Central New York. 

The Peaes and Apples (Genus Pirns). 

1033. This numbers about forty species, natives of the North 
Temperate Zone, and widely cultivated for their fruit. In some 
cases, they are valuable for their wood, which is solid, fine-grained, 
and of uniform texture ; well adapted for turning, and for certain 
kinds of wood-engraving, although much inferior to the boxwood. 
It makes an excellent fuel, and in some regions it may be cultivated 
profitably for this use. 

1034. In the open country east of the Cascade mountains in 
Washington Territory, it appears to be particularly well adapted fjr 

1 The FiV^^i^ia is a distinct genus, not represented in the native flora of 
the United States. The V. capensis is a tree growing in South Africa. 
There is but one other species of the Cladrastis^ and that grows in Mant- 
choui-a, in Asia. 



The Mountain Ash : The Siveet- Scented Crab Tree. 261 



this use, and the Surveyor-General of that Territory, in a report 
made in 1881, says that a grove of apple or pear trees, if set out at 
twelve feet apart, will attain a wonderful height in a few years. 
The fruit will be worthless, but the timber will grow straight and 
tali, if the bodies are thus kept shaded; and adds: "I doubt if 
more valuable timber could be grown, for either fuel or manufactur- 
ing purposes, all things considered. Such trees would grow wher- 
ever planted with but little care or expense." 

1035. The IMountain Ash (Pints Americana). This species 
grows in high northern 







,1'/ , . '^^-''V/^ 








latitudes, from Green- 
land and Labrador to 
the Pacific coast, and 
in the New England 
and Northern States. 
It is generally found 
upon mountains, and 
grows to a small tree. 
The fruit, which is red, 
remains on during the 
winter, and it is often 
cultivated for orna- 
ment. It much resem- 
bles the European 
mountain ash (P. au- 
cujmria), but does not 
grow to so large a size. 
The latter grows freely 
throughout the North- 
ern States under culti- 
vation, and is highly 
ornamental when in 

jPj.yJ^ 140. Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit of the Mountain Ash.' 

1036. The Sw^eet-Scented Crab Teee (Pirus corormria). Tliis 
tree grows in Western New York, and as far west as Iowa, and 
southward to Georgia and Louisiana. It forms a tree from ten to 
twenty feet high, and is sometimes cultivated. The fruit, when 
ripe, is an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, greenish-yellow, 
somewhat translucent, and extremely acid. 






262 



The Plums and Cherries. 



1037. The Oregon Crab- Apple (Plrus rivularts). This occurs 
as a shrub, usually forming dense thickets, but sometimes growing 
as a tree from 15 to 25 feet in height, and a foot in diameter, from 
Alaska southward along the islands and the mainland as far as So- 
noma county, California. It has a very hard wood, susceptible of a 
tine polish, and useful in mill work, where there is great wear. Its 
fruit is prized by the Indian for food. 

1038. The Western Mountain Ash (Plrus sambucifolia). This 
is a small shrub, growing at great elevations upon the Sierras, and 
sparingly in various parts of the interior of British America. It is 
usually a shrub from 4 to 8 feet in height. 

The Plums and Cherries (Genus Prunus). 

1039. This numbers about eighty species, widely scattered over 

the -North Temperate 
Zone, and of these 
some twenty are found 
in North America, 
and fourteen in the At- 
lantic States. Upon 
the Pacific coast, half 
y a dozen species occur, 
j;>all of them shrubs, 
and cf but slight ac- 
count either for their 
wood or their fruit. 
These species are often 
planted at great dis- 
tances from the par- 
ent tree, their seeds 
being dropped undi- 
gested by birds. 

1040. Tqe Black 
Cherry {Primus se- 
rothia). This tree, in 
a rich soil, grows very 
rapidly, and forms one 
of the most valued of 
141. Wild Black Cherry.— Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit. our native WOods for 




The Plums and Cherries. 263 

cabinet work. It is almost equal to mahogany, which it in some 
degree resembles when darkened by age. It grows readily from 
the seed, which may be planted in the fall or early in the spring, 
and they generally do best if started in the place where the tree Is 
to remain. The 1 ark, especially that of the roots, possess valuable 
tonic and sedative qualities, and afford the basis of various remedies 
sold m market. The leaves are also sometimes used in domestic 
medicine. 

1041. This tree is found to be well adapted to prairie planting in 
Illinois, Iowa, and other Western States. In a deep, rich soil, it 
sometimes attains a great size. It is noticed that the fruit improves 
in quality and size under cultivation, and it begins to bear at an 
early age. 

1042. Bird Cherry (Pruniis Pennsylvanica) . This tree grows 
to a small tree, but is short-lived, and its wood is too small and per- 
ishable to be much value for any purpose but fuel. It is very apt 
to spring up on land that has been burnt over; often intermingled 
with poplars, and gradually giving place to larger and more hardy 
kinds. The fruit grows in small clusters like the garden cherry. 
The cherries are small, acid, and a favorite food of birds, through 
whose agency the growth of this tree on a burnt district may be 
probably ascribed. 

1043. TpiE Choke-Cherry (Prunus Virginiana). This derives 
its name from the astringent property of its fruit, which grows in 
racimes like grapes or currents. This species grows in dense thick- 
ets, and not of sufficient size to be of value for its wood. 

1044. The Carolina Plum (PnmusCaroliniana). This'is a highly 
ornamental southern species, with evergreen foliage, and growing to 
a height of from thirty to fifty feet. It has a very regular oval 
head, and smooth branches. Its leaves are said to be very poison- 
ous to cattle. It occurs on the coast and islands of the Carolinas 
and Georgia, and is well adapted for ornamental planting. 

10b5. The Chicasaw Plum (Prunus Chicasa). This is a native 
of the South-western States, but is extensively naturalized in the 
South, and is sometimes cultivated in the North. The fruit is small, 
and rather astringent, but runs into varieties, some of which are 
much prized. It has been sometimes cultivated as a hedge-plant, 
and is worthy of notice in tree-planting in the Western States. 



264 The Thorn- Tree: The Service- Berry. 

Several other species of this genus grow in the United States, but 
none of them of much importance in forestry. 

The Thorn-Tree (Genus Cratcegus). 

1046. Between sixty and seventy species occur in Europe, in East- 
ern Asia, and Japan, and in North America. About fifteen species are 
found in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The quality of 
their wood is about the same as that of the apple-tree. They are of 
slow growth, and unimportant as timber-trees, but they are in some 
regions remarkably well adapted for hedges, being thorny, and 
very scraggly in their growth, presenting a thicket that is quite im- 
penetrable by man or beast. 

1047. Two species are found in California, viz., C. rivalaris and 
0. Douglasii. They are shrubs or small trees, the former growing 
to 10 or 15 feet, and the latter from 18 to 25 feet, with stout spines 
and black or dark purple fruit. 

1048. The Scarlet-Fruited Thorn (Cratcegus coccinea). This 
thorn,' when grown as a hedge-plant, should be trained to grow 
thin and tall, which can be done best by weaving in the branches 
in one direction, and trimming them in the other. 

1019. Dotted-Fruit Thorn {Crataegus inuidata^. This is a 
common species in the Atlantic States, growing naturally along 
the borders of rivers, and is easily transplanted. When properly 
trimmed and managed, it makes a superior hedge-plant. The fruit 
is dull red, or yellowish, and dotted, and the leaves are wedge- 
shaped, tapering below into a slender leaf-stem. 

The Service-Berry (Genus AmelancJiier). 

1050. Some four or five species of this genus are found in South- 
ern Europe, Asia-Minor, Japan, and North America. Of these the 
A. Canade)isis, Yuriously known as the "shad-bush," " june-berry," 
etc., is common in the Atlantic States, and the A. alnifolia upon the 
Pacific coast. They are shrubs of small size, of no great interest 
to the forester. The wood of the western species is very hard, and 
is used by the Indians for various purposes. The berries are dried 
and stored away by them in large quantities for winter use. 

The Eucalyptus. 

1051. Of the genus Eucalyptus (of the natural orders Myrtacece), 



The Eucalyptus. 265 

about 150 species are described, chiefly natives of Australia and the 
Indian Arciiipelago, and of these the best known is the E. globulus. 
This was first discovered by Labillardiere, in Tasmania, in 1792, 
but was not much noticed in Europe until 1861. M. Prosper 
Kamel, who had seen it growing in a botanical garden in Melbourne, 
was so impressed with its probable value for cultivation in Europe, 
that he sent the seeds to Paris in 1860, and attempts in planting 
were made the next year. It grew remarkably well, but was killed 
down in winter, and it is now well known that it can not survive 
the frost, at least not till the wood is several years old. It thrives, 
however, very well in Southern France, and is found peculiarly 
well adapted to cultivation in Algeria. 

1052. It has been tried in many parts of the United States, but 
not with much success, excepting in California, where, within the 
influence of the coast climate, but not in the interior valleys, it 
thrives with great luxuriance, provided that the temperature never 
goes down below about 28° (F.). The influence of the sea-air ap- 
pears to give it some immunity against frost. 

1053. Under favorable conditions, the growth is truly wonderful. 
A section was shown at the Centennial Exhibition, in 1878, but 
eleven years old, that came from a tree sixty feet high and thir- 
teen and a half inches in diameter at five feet from the ground. 

1054. About twenty species of the eucalyptus have been tried in 
that state, of which half a dozen have been planted to some extent, 
and probably three-fifths of them are the " blue-gums" (E. globu- 
lus), the rest being chiefly the E. viminalis, F. marginata, andE. ros- 
trata. Of these the first has attracted the most attention, on ac- 
count of its rapid growth, although its timber is less valuable than 
some other hard- wooded species. It is estimated that six millions 
of this tree had been planted in the ten years preceding 1882, mostly 
in streets and yards, in cities, villages, and around dwellings. 

1055. The E. coniuta and E. gigantea have shown a susceptibility 
to the frost quite equal to that of the E. globulus, although the E. 
rostmta and E. viminalls are more hardy. Of 120,000 trees planted 
at Tipton, and well-cared for, nearly all of the E. globulus, E. cornuta, 
and E. gigantea died within two years, and the E. rostmta thrived, 
but grew slowly. 

1056. The texture of the wood thus rapidly grown is soft and 
sappy, as compared with that hardened by age, but it is highly 



266 The Eacalyptas. 

probable that it would all the more readily admit of the injection 
of creosote, or the mineral salts in solution, that would render it 
hard, strong, and durable. 

1057. The mature wood is rather pale, and not so ornamental 
as many others of the genus, but it takes a good polish, is hard, 
durable, and nearly equal to English oak as a building timber, but 
it will not bear contact with the soil or water as well as the red-gum, 
iron-bark, and box-eucalypts. It varies in solidity according to the 
conditions of its growth, and is sometimes too heavy to float. It 
is used in ship-building, carriage-making, and the manufacture of 
agricultural implements, and for telegraph poles and railway ties. 
In its native country it is a favorite material for fencing, and va- 
rious farm uses. 

1058. As to profit in the cultivation of the Eucalyptus globulus in 
California, we have returns of twenty acres cleared, when eleven 
years old, to make room for an orchard, in which after charging 
every item of cost, and a yearly rental of $5 per acre, the net 
profits were $3,866.04, or about $17.57 per acre annually. When 
used as fuel, the wood should be split immediately after felling, or 
otherwise it becomes soggy and worthless. 

1059. In a paper presented at the American Forestry Congress 
at Cincinnati, in April, 1882, by Prof R. E. C. Stearns, of the 
California State University, after presenting the leading facts in 
reference to tree-planting in that state witli evident fairness, he 
adds : "If one-half of the trees planted, as represented by the pre- 
ceding figures, are still living and growing, the past has been really a 
very great success. If new plantations are being made at the rate 
of say only 50,000 or 75,000 per annum, the present is full of prom- 
ise, and the future full of hope." 

1060. The seeds of the E. globulus are small (about 10,000 to an 
ounce), and will keep their vitality about four years. The lower 
leaves are broad and heart-shaped, but the upper ones turn edge- 
wise, so as to present both sides to the light, and are long-pointed 
and curved flatwise. For this reason this tree does not shade the 
ground so much as most forest trees. 

1061. The leaves, when rubbed, emit a strong aromatic odor, 
and aflTord by distillation an essential oil that is found to possess 
valuable medicinal qualities. About the year 1870, the exporta- 
tion of this oil from Australia by a single manufacturer amounted 



The JEugenias : The Cornel Family. 267 

to over 12,000 pounds. It is used also for scenting scaps, for di- 
luting the oil of roses, and for other perfumes. The alcoholic ex- 
tract of the leaves is found to be efficacious in intermittent fever, 
and the balsamic odors emitted while growing are believed to be 
salutary in certain diseases. From the rapidity of its growth, this 
tree evaporates a large amount of water that is taken up by the 
roots, and has a tendency by this means to promote the drainage of 
pestilential swamps.^ 

10G2. In its native country the blue-gum grows to the enormous 
size of 400 to 500 feet in height, and over 80 feet in circumference. 
It even rivals the giant trees of California in height, but not in 
symmetry of proportion and in solid contents. Among the other 
species of this genus there are many tliat grow to colossal size, and 
some that excel in beauty and durability of the Avood. 

1063. The Eugenia belongs also to the allspice family (Mijr- 
tacece), and four or five species occur as small trees or shrubs in 
Southern Florida. The wood closely resembles that of boxwood, 
and is found to be equally suitable for wood-engraving. It is, how- 
ever, of small size, and has not hitherto been brought into use for 
this purpose. An immense number of species of this genus have 
been described, of which about five hundred are deemed well char- 
acterized, and some two hundred others as less certain. They are 
chiefly natives of tropical and sub-tropical regions in Asia and 
America, and a few are found in Australia and Africa. 

The Cornel Family (Cornacece). 

1064. This embraces about a dozen genera, and less than a hun- 
dred species, and is widely distributed throughout the north tem- 
perate zone. They are mostly unimportant shrubs, but some of 

^In the autumn of 1881, the author visited the Abbey of Trois-Fontaines, 
near the city of Kome, and saw the operations of planting this tree that 
were going on, about 150 convicts being employed in the labor. The seeds 
are sown in boxes filled with rich soil, and tlie plants were taken out with- 
out disturbing the roots, and set in places first prepared, and well-watered. 
They need watering the first season, but afterwards will take care of them- 
selves. The soil is excessively hard and dry. This region was so unhealthy 
that the abbey had been wholly abandoned. The planting began about 
1868, and the place is now inhabited by a great number of persons, and in 
1881, for the first time, the convicts were lodged upon the premises instead 
of being taken back to the city every night as formerly. 



268 The Sour- Gum. 

them grow to a useful size as trees. Their bark is bitter and tonic, 
and their wood generally very hard and fine-grained. 

10G5. Of the genus Cornus, we find in the United States about a 
dozen species. Of these in the Atlantic States the Flowering 
Dogwood (C. florida) is perhaps the most important, as well for 
cultivation as an ornamental tree, as for the solidity and excellence 
of its wood. 

106G. The C. Nidtallii grows in California, and northward to Brit- 
ish Columbia, to the size of 50 to 70 feet, and bears a showy 
blossom. Its wood is close-grained and hard, and it is well worthy 
of cultivation. There are about half a dozen other species of this 
genus in California. 

The Sour-Gum (Genus Nijssa). 

1067. This genus, also belonging to the Cornacece, of which five 
or six species are found in the north temperate zone, in North 
America, the Himalaya region, and Malay archipelago. The san- 
dal-wood of commerce belongs to this family. 

1068. The Pepperidge {N. multiflora) occurs in the Atlantic 
States from New England southward to the gulf coast. It is va- 
riously named the " tupelo," ''hornbeam," "snag-tree," etc., and 
grows chiefly in swamps, and often to a large size. Its wood is ex- 
ceedingly fibrous and difficult to split, and this quality renders it a 
valuable material for wagon-hubs, the best being found in the 
swamps of Maryland and the sea-coast of New Jersey, where it is 
found in perfection. 

1069. When used for hubs, it should be cut in the early part of 
winter, and from five to ten feet from each tree, near the butt, may 
be taken. It should be at once deprived of the bark, and be cross- 
piled in dry open sheds for three years or more, until thoroughly 
dried. The best qualities are fined-grained, heavy, and the fibers 
of the wood are so woven together that it can scarcely be split by 
any force that can be applied. 

1070. The wood is also, for this reason, much used for making 
packing-boxes that require great strength, and at Syracuse, N. Y., 
it is used in making pipes for distributing the brine at the salt 
works in that vicinity. Four other species of the Nyssa, occur in 
the Middle and Southern States. 



The Elders: The Haw and the Butt on -Bush. 269 

The Elders (Genus Samhucus). 

1071. The two principal species of the elder found native in the 
United States are unimportant shrubs. One of them, the red-ber- 
ried elder, (/S. j)uhenB) has sometimes an arborescent form, and is 
occasionally, but rarely, found 15 to 18 feet high. The /S'. glauca of 
California and Oregon is sometimes of this height, and from six inches 
to a foot in diameter. The Eiiropeon elder (>S. racemosct and S. nigra) 
grows to a tree of considerable size at the base, but not liigh in pro- 
portion, and the young branches are straight, and with a relatively 
large pith, as in the common elder {S. Canadensis) of the Atlantic 
States. Its berries are sometimes used in making pies, and their 
juice in making wine. Of the elders, about ten or twelve species 
are known, chiefly natives of temperate regions, except one or two 
found in South Africa and some upon mountains within the tropics. 
This genus and the following belong to the natural order Caprifo- 
liacece : 

Haw: Sloe: Arrow- Wood (Genus Viburnum). 

1072. Of this genus about eighty species are described, and about 
a dozen are native in the United States. They are, for the most 
part, unimportant shrubs, growing in swamps, or damp woods, but 
some of them preferring a dry situation, and occasionally they be- 
come small trees. 

1073. The black haw (F. prunifoUum) grows to the height of 20 
feet, and the F. lentago to an equal size. Both have a wide range 
towards the north and west, and varieties of the former endure a 
dry climate quite well, and may help to make up some diversity in 
the forest culture of the western regions. 

1074. The Viburnwn opuliis is the " high cranberry," sometimes 
cultivated for its fruit, or as an ornamental hedge-plant. A garden 
variety of this species, introduced from Europe, has large showy 
white flow^ers, all sterile, and is known as the " snow'-ball bush." It is 
easily propagated by sprouts from the root, and by layers, and has 
a hard fine-grained wood. 

1075. The Button-Bush (CephalantJius occidentalis) , of the nat- 
ural order Buhiacece, is an unimportant shrub, growing throughout 
the Northern and Western Stares and on the Pacific coast. It pre- 
fers the margins of swamps and a rich soil, and sometimes grows to 
a small tree, but is too small sized for any useful purpose. The 



270 



The Silver-Bell: The Ash, 



fruit closely resembles in form that of the plane-tree, but is smaller. 
It is sometimes called the '' pond dogwood." 

The Snow- Drop, or Silver-Bell Tree (Genus Halesia). 
1076. The family to which this tree belongs, (Styracece) contains 
but two genera within the United States, and this genus but five 
species, of which two are found in North America, one in China, 
and two or three in Japan. Our species are small trees, found in 
the Southern Atlantic States, and bear showy white flowers. They 
are often cultivated for ornament. The H. dlptera is found in rich 
woods along the Gulf States : the H. ietraptera occurs in woods and 
along streams in West Virginia, and from Illinois to Florida, mostly 
upon or near mountains, and the II. parvifiora is a southern species. 



The Ash (Genus Fraxinus). 




142. Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit of the Ash. 



1077. This belongs 
to the olive family 
(Oleacece), which in- 
cludes, besides, the 
European olive, so 
valued for its fruit 
and oil, the Forsyth- 
ias, lilacs, privets, 
and fringe-tree, that 
have been introduced 
for ornamental plant- 
ing. 

1078. The Europ- 
ean ash (^Fraxinus 
excelsior) is generally 
found growing with 
other kinds, and sel- 
dom alone. It thrives 
best in a warm cli- 
mate, and is found, 
not only upon plains, 
but on slopes and 
plateaus of consid- 
erable size. It sue- 



The White Ash. 271 

ceeds best, however, in the former, but not upon clay nor sand. It 
generally bears seeds early and abundantly every year. Its leaves 
are often gathered as forage. The wood is used to advantage in 
places always wet or always dry, but it docs not bear alternate ex- 
posures. The timber is especially valued in carriage- making, and 
for various manufactures. 

1079. The genus Fraxinus includes about a dozen species within 
the United States, the principal of which are the following : 

1080. White Ash {Fiaxinm Americana). This tree prefers a 
deepaud somewhat damp soil, and grows in congenial situations 
rapidly and to a large size. The wood of second-growth white ash 
has, perhaps, no equal for lightness, elasticity, and strength, and is 
largely used for the handles of forks, rakes, etc., scythe snaths, ag- 
ricultural implements, carriage-making, cooperage, and other man- 
ufactures, and when f-awn into thin boards it furnishes a highly or- 
namental wood for joinery and carpenter work. 

1081. The large " burls" that form on its trunk are especially 
valued for the making of veneers. The wood splits with great ease 
and regularity, and is much used for hoops, basket work, and the 
bottoming of chairs. 

1082. The white ash ranks among our best timbers, where grown 
upon dry ground and under fiivorable conditions. The wood is 
light, strong, elastic, and durable. As grown in open ground, it 
gains rapidly in size, and the wood is of superior quality for scythe 
snaths, fork-handles, and in wagon-making. In a dry climate it 
does not grow as well as the green-ash, but the latter does not grow 
to so large a size. 

1083. The ash is best raised from the seeds, which may be gath- 
ered in the fall, and kept in a cool damp place till spring. They 
may be planted like corn, but not over an inch in depth. They may 
be transplanted from nurseries with facility, but do not get so early 
a start as when planted where they are to remain. If planted in 
rows, about three feet apart and two feet between trees, in a cool and 
damp, but not wet soil, the alternate trees will, at the end of ten 
years, afford the best of hoop-poles, and afterwards, at intervals of 
ten or fifteen years, other thinnings of much greater value. As an 
ornamental tree, it thrives finely in full exposure, but tlie shade is 
not d< use. 

1081. The white ash grows in moist woods, from Canada to Flor- 



272 The Ashes. 

ida and Louisiana. A variety (imcrocarpa) , with remarkably small 
fruit, is found in Alabama, and anotlier variety (Tcxensis, perhaps 
a distinct species), is found in Texas, near the Ilio Grande. 

1085. Black Ash (Fraxiniis samlmdfolia) . Tliis ash grows 
chiefly in swamps, and is distinguished by the greater number of 
its leaflets and the blunt appearance of its branches, as compared 
with those of the preceding species. 

108G. Tliis tree grows very commonly in the Eastern, Northern, 
and North-western States. The wood is not so valuable as that of 
the Avhite ash, but is used for hoops, and the large knots upon the 
trunk are turned into bowls. It should never be planted upon dry 
land, but on the borders of swamps and in humid soils. It may be 
planted closely, for the thinnings have value from a small size, 
being suitable for hoop-poles, poles, etc., up to sizes suitable for 
fence-rails, rafters, and sills. 

1087. Thi;» Geeen Ash (Fraxinus viridis) is a small or middle- 
sized tree, having much the same range as the white ash, and found 
well adapted to cultivation in the prairie region. 

1088. The Blue Ash (Fraxhms quad ran gidata) is a large tim- 
ber-tree found growing in dry woods in the Western States, from 
Michigan to Tennessee. It derives its name from the bluish tinge 
wdiich its inner bark gives to water when macerated in it. 

1089. The Water Ash (Fraxinus platycarpa') is a middle-sized 
tree growing in swamps from Virginia to Louisiana. 

1090. The Bed Ash (Fraxinus ind>escens) , a middle or large- 
sized tree growing from Canada to Dakota, and south to Florida. 

1091. The Oregon Ash {Fraxinus Oregona) is a low-spreading 
tree, common along the Columbia river and the upper part of the 
Sacramento Valley. It seldom grows more than a foot in diameter 
by thirty to forty feet in height. 

10^)2. The following may be mentioned only by their botanical 
names, as of less importance, viz.: 

Fraxinus anomala, a shrub or low tree in Southern Utah. 

F. cuspidata, a shrub Ave to eight feet high in New Mexico. 

F. dipeiala, a small tree in Western California. 

F. Greggii, a shrub five to eight feet high found on limestone soil 
in South-western Texas and the adjacent parts of Mexico. 

F. pistacia'folia, a small tree found in South-western Texas, and 
westward to Arizona. 



The Olive: The Lilac: The Walnut Famihj. 273 



The Olive. (Gbdus Oka). 

1093. This embraces about thirty-five species, found in tropical 
Asia and the region bordering upon the Mediterranean. The com- 
mon European olive (0. Europea) has been long under cultivation 
in California, but not to considerable extent. 

1094. The Wild Olive of the Southern States {Osmcmthus 
Americana) has about the same range as the live-oak, and is Avorthy 
of cultivation as affording some variety, but it does not grow to a 

large size. 

The Lilac. (Genus Syringa). 

1095. Of this there are about half a dozen species, natives of 
Eastern Europe and Asia. They form desirable shrubs for cultiva- 
tion, on account of the beauty and fragrance of their blossoms, but 
are of too small size to be important in forest culture. 

The Walnut Family. {JuglandecB).' 

1096. This embraces five genera, and some thirty-two species, 
widely scattered over the northern hemisphere of both continents, 
and upon mountains within the tropics. The two genera of es- 
pecial interest are the Canja and Juglans, or the hickories and the 
walnuts, both of 
which are of the 
greatest importance 
as timber-trees, and 
several of them of 
great value for their 
fruit. 

1097. All of this 
family yield, when 
tapped in spring, a 
sweetish sap, that 
may be evaporated 
down to syrup and 

SUO"ar. The amount 143. The Walnut.— Leaves and Fruit. 

is not, however, sufficient to render it an object, and the injury to 
the trees would be much greater than any benefit that could be de- 
rived from this practice. 
18 




274 



The Hickories. 




The Hickories. (Genus Caryd). 
1098. These occur native only in Nortli America, although fossil 

species are found in Europe. 



About ten living species are 
known in the United States 
and Mexico. The wood of the 
hickories is generally heavy, 
hard, close-grained, and re- 
markably strong and elastic. 
As a fuel they rank higher 
than any other of our native 
woods. 

1099. Tpie Pecan-Nut 
(Carya olivceforwis'). This is 

144. The Walnut.-Yonnfr Leaves Blossoms, f^und ffrowin^ tO the heiHlt 

and JN ut. o o & 

of sixty to seventy feet along 
the country bordering the Mississippi and the lower Ohio, from Iowa 
southward to Louisiana, and westward in Indian Territory. The wood is 

coarse-grained, hard, strong, 
and durable, but not so val- 
uable as that of some other 
species. The fruit of the 
pecan is considered as one 
of the best of the hickories, 
and occasionally a tree is 
found upon which it is ex- 
ceptionally fine. There can 
be no doubt but that these 
could be greatly improved 
by cultivation, and that the 
finer varieties could be 
grafted upon other species, 
and grown with much 
profit. 
1100. The Bitter Hick- 
ory (Carya amard). This species occurs from New England and 
New York, and southward into the Carolinas, where it is occasion- 
ally found from the coast to the mountains. It grows best in a cool 




145. Carya olivscformis— The Pecan-nut. 



The Hickories. 275 

rich soil, but the timber is not equal to that of some other species. 
It comes to greatest perfection in the Western States, and is found 
as far west as Nebraska. It is sometimes called the "swamp hickory." 
IIOJ. The Shell-Bark Hickory (Carya alba). This is one of 
the most widely distributed and most valuable of the hickories. It 
is found from IMassachusetts to Nebraska, and is particularly well 
developed in deep fertile soil in the Western States. In West Vir- 
ginia it is sometimes found eighty to a hundred feet in height, and 
from two and a half to three feet in diameter. Its timber is highly 
prized in carriage-making, but is not durable in the weather. It is 
found somewhat sparingly in North Carolina, and is most common 
in the Southern States, upon the uplands of the interior. 

1102. The Wihte-Heart Hickory or Mocker-Nut (Gary a to- 
mentosa). This species is found from New England southward to 
the Carolinas, and westward to Iowa and Nebraska. In North Car- 
olina it grows to sixty feet or more in height, and from twenty inclies 
to two feet in diameter. It extends from the coast to the mountains, 
and is the only hickory that grows on the " barrens." Its timber is 
much used in carriage-making. 

1103. The Thick Shell-Bark Hickory (Carya sulcata). This 
is chiefly a western species, and grows in rich soils to eighty and a 
hundred feet in height and three feet in diameter. 

1104. The Broom-Hickory or Pig-Nut (Carya pordna). This 
is the most common species in the Eastern and Middle States, and 
is found westward to Nebraska. Its fibers are very tough, and it is 
sometimes made into brooms. Under favorable conditions it grows 
to four feet in diameter. 

1105. The Pig-Nut Hickory (Carya glabra). This species is 
somewhat widely distributed, and is found disseminated among other 
hickories in North Carolina and southward. It is found westward 
to Iowa. 

1106. The Water Bitter-Nut Hickory (Canjaaquatica). This 
is found in swamps in North Carolina. Its timber is of poorer qual- 
ity than that of any other of the hickories. 

The Black Walnut, Butternut, etc. (Genus Juglans). 

1107. Of this genus, seven or eight species are known in temper- 
ate and sub-tropical regions, of which one is found in Europe and 
Central Asia, two in Eastern Asia and Japan, and four or five in 



276 The Black Walnut. 

Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the West Indies. The 
fruit is oily and rielily flavored, and is sold in the markets for eat- 
ing, and when young and before the shell hardens, it is often used 
as pickles. The outer husk of the fruit, and sometimes the bark, 
are used in dyeing. 

1108. TiiE Black Walnut (Juglans mgra). This tree derives 
its name from the color of the heart-wood, which is of a dark tinge, 
and it has long been a favorite material for cabinet-wares. When 
exposed to the weather, it is durable, and in the first settlement of 
reo-ions where it was common it was much used for posts and rails. 

1109. When the wood of this tree has a waved or curly grain, it 
is highly prized for veneers. Such pieces are best obtained from a 
crotch of large limbs, or from the stump and large roots, or, better 
still, from the large burls or excrescences that are sometimes found 
on the trunk. Enormous prices have been paid for single trees hav- 
ing an exceptionally fine grain. 

1110. This may be justly regarded as among the most valuable 
of our native species, and in a rich and rather humid soil is among 
the most profitable to plant. It Avill grow very well, but not so 
rapidly, upon lands that are dry, and in a climate approaching the 
arid, and it is found well adapted for cultivation upon the prairies 
and the eastern borders of the gieat plains. As it sends down a 
strong tap-root, and is very liable to suffer in transplanting, it 
should always be planted where it is to remain. This may be done 
in autumn or early in the spring, and if the latter, from nuts that 
have been exposed to freezing, as elsewhere described. 

1111. There is another fact to be noticed, in reference to this 
tree, that deserves attention. In the more westerly States, where 
the blue-grass thrives, it is very apt to get into a black walnut 
grove, and unless carefully kept out by cultivation, it will injure its 
growth. This happens from the fact that the grass starts very 
earlv, and even matures its seed before the foliage of the trees is 
fully opened. 

1112. It is therefore best to plant it alternately with other trees 
that put forth their leaves earlier, although they may not be worth 
as much f )r their wood, such as soft maples, box-elder, or cotton- 
wood. The latter have the further advantage of compelling the 
black walnut trees to run up straight and high, and they serve to 
shelter and protect it from the hot sun and from drying winds. 



The Butternut, 277 

1113. These nursing-trees may be taken out when the growth be- 
comes too dense, and they will be then of use as fuel and for various 
farm purposes. An acre of laud requires for planting about seven 
bushels of black walnuts with the shucks on. They must be 
planted early, and in a dry prairie soil they require to be covered 
more deeply than in a humid soil. 

1114. In Canada, the black walnut once abounded in the country 
drained by the tributaries of the St. Clair river, but it has now be- 
come scarce, and from present prospects it will soon disappear as a 

native timber tree. 

1115. Butternut (Juglans cinerea). This tree, when grown 
alone, is noted for its broad-spreading habit, but in woods, among 
other'trees, it grows to forty or sixty feet in height. Its lumber is 
brownish-white, and in texture much like that of the blackwalnut. 
It works smoothly, takes a good finish, and is much used for inside 

finishings. 

1116. This tree is widely distributed throughout the Northern 
and Middle States, is easily raised from the nuts, and, like the black 
walnut, it is difficult to transplant. It prefers a rich, calcareous 
soil, and under favorable circumstances its growth is quite rapid. 
It must, however, be crowded laterally, if we wish to have it form 
a tall straight trunk. 

1117. The bark of the butternut has medicinal properties that 
give it the specific name— Cathaiiica, as applied by Micaux. It is 
also sometimes used for dyeing, and it possesses some tanning prop- 
erties. 

1118. Jnglans Californica. This is a large shrub or small tree, 
but sometimes found forty to sixty feet in height and from two to 
four feet in diameter. It occurs in California, from San Francisco 

southward. 

1119. Juglans rupestris. This is a shrub found in Texas, New 
Mexico, and Arizona, and grows to from six to twenty feet in height. 

The Willows and Poplars. (Natural Order Salicinem), 

1120. This natural order embraces only the willows and the pop- 
lars, concerning which botanists difier greatly in the classification. 
They are scattered over the north temperate and borders of the 
Arctic zone ; some occur within the tropics, and a few in the south- 
ern hemisphere, but none in Australia or on the islands of the South- 
ern Pacific. 



278 The Willows, 

The Willows. (Genus Salix). 

1121. The willows form a great number of species/ and run into 
hybrids and varieties that render their study botanically a matter 
of unusual difficulty. '^ They occur in a great variety of soil, but 
generally prefer humid localities, and many kinds occur chiefly 
along the borders of streams. Their roots in such places present the 
most efficient means for preventing erosions, and they may be 
planted for this purpose with great success. 

1122. Willows produce seeds much like those of the poplars, and 
these ripen in the spring. They are, however, best propagated from 
cuttings from the robust young wood or in sections from the roots. 

1123. These cuttings may be made late in the fall or in winter, 
but always after the fall of the leaf, and before the sap starts in the 
spring. They should be selected from sound and thrifty young 
wood, of the previous year's growth, tied in bundles and set in a 
damp cellar, their lower ends set in sand or wet moss, and their 
tops prevented from drying ; or, instead of this, they may be set in 
trenches not liable to standing water, and covered from the frost. 
They should be set early in spring, in ground previously prepared, 
and will need cultivation till they are above the reach of weeds. 

1124. There are several of the willows that grow to large trees 
and produce valuable timber. Their rapidity of gro'wth, under fa- 
vorable conditions, is remarkable. The wood is light, tough, and 
easily worked, and in some kinds it is used for hoops, tool handles, 
and turned wares. The bark contains tanning and medicinal qual- 
ities, and the charcoal from its wood is used for making gunpowder. 

^ About IGO in number, of which about 00 occur in North America. 

^Itis remarked by Gri;:or that "there is no genus of plants in general 
cultivation whose species are more confused than that of the willow. Tiiis 
is accounted for partly from the more prominent kinds having been hybrid- 
ized, and yielded intermediate varieties without number, and partly from 
each species, containing male and female plants, and the same .species dif- 
fering to some extent in appearance at certain seasons of the year. Add 
to this the circumstance of old trees assuming a ver}' different appearance 
from young ones, and that no tree is more apt to change its appearance 
from a change of soil and climate, and it will not be surprising that some 
confusion should exist in the genus, and that the more prominent species 
only should be readilj' recognized." {Arboriculture, page 310.) 



The Willoios, . 279 

The ashes of the willow are rich in potash, and the leaves in some 
countries are gathered for feeding sheep in winter. 

1125. Among the willows of large growth, the White Willow 
{S. alba) is by far the most important. It is sometimes called the 
gray or Huntingdon willow, and is already Avidely introduced in the 
prairie region of the northwest, where it is valued above all others 
as a wind-break. 

1126. The white willow is found to thrive exceedingly well in 
Northern Iowa and in Minnesota, as a hedge and screen. It grows 
with great rapidity, and its wood is useful as a fuel, and, when 
peeled and seasoned, as poles for all kinds of farm uses. When 
split and nailed to posts, it makes a very good fence. 

1127. This willow is readily propagated from cuttings, as already 
described, and they should be set rather deep in soil liable to drouth, 
and so thick that they will shade the ground early, but care should 
be taken to thin them out as soon as they become crowded. 

1128. The Round-leaved ok Goat- Willow (S. caprea). This 
is one of the kinds of willow that grow to a large size, with a tough 
elastic wood, of about the same market value as the birch. The 
bark is used for tanning leather. This willow, in England, is much 
prized for coppice-growth, where there is a demand for hoops, poles, 
rods for crates, sheep-fences, or similar uses, and no tree cut once in 
three or four years will yield in a short period a greater bulk of 
faggot wood. .On congenial soil, the growth of one season is from 
eight to twelve feet long, and an inch in diameter at a yard from 
the ground. It grows forty or fifty feet high, and from one and a 
half to two feet in diameter. It stands exposure to the sea winds 
better than most trees. 

1129. The Bedford Willow (S. Russelliana) is of rapid growth, 
and the wood equal to that of the white willow, if not superior. 
The Red- Wood Willow {S. fragilis). This has a light, tough, and 
durable wood, but when old it is very liable to die at the top. The 
specific name is given from the facility with which the twigs used 
for basket-work, break from the tree, although the twigs themselves 
are tough and pliable. 

1130. Willow, when sawn into boards, is extremely light, but 
tough, and is not apt to splinter or receive damage from the fall or 
friction of hard materials. It is for this reason much prized as a 
lining for cart-bodies and barrows. In England it is highly prized 



280 71ie Osier Willow. 

for railroad-brakes, as it is not readily set on fire by friction. In the 

works constructed for preventing tlie erosion of mountain torrents, 

bundles of willow are often fastened down in the beds of streams, 

where they sometimes take root and grow. In the jettys constructed 

by Captain Eades, for improving tlie mouth of the Mississippi for 

navigation in recent years, the willow was the principal brush-wood 

employed. 

Cultivation of tlie Oder or Basket- Willow. 

1131. Although this is scarcely a branch of forestry in its ordi- 
nary sense, it is often noticed in connection with it, and as it involves 
some principles in cultivation in common with tree-planting, we will 
concisely state the principal rules concerning it. It deserves favor 
on account of the small capital that it employs, the iarge amount of 
hand-labor that it affords at remunerative prices, and the considerable 
amount of money that would be saved to the country were the sup- 
plies that we use, wholly produced upon our own soil.^ It is fur- 
ther to be noticed, that willows may be cultivated upon soil too 
marshy for most kinds of farm-crops, and that the labor they fur- 
nish may be carried on through the year. 

1132. The soils best adapted for the willow are rich alluvions, 
and reclaimed swamps, and the land should be sufficiently drained. 
It w^ould be better if means were provided for irrigation in dry sea- 
sons. If liable to overflow in spring floods, it should have ditches 
at proper intervals for sooner carrying off the water. 

1133. In preparing an osier field for planting, it should be cleared 
of all vegetation, and tlie soil should be mellowed by plowing or 
s^mding late in the fall before planting. 

1134. The kinds of willow preferred in Europe are chiefly the 
following : 

1. Hed-willow (^Salix purpurea) . 

2. Ural willow (/S'. purpurea var. Uralensis). 

3. White osier (S. viminalis). 

4. Narrow-leaved willow (5. rubra or S. viminalis-purpurea), 

5. Soft-leaved willow (S. moUissima). 

6. Caspian w^illow {S. acutifoUa or S. pruinosa). 

1135. These, under cultivation, run into varieties, so that their 

^ Durina; the ten yesirs endini]; in 1879, the annual importation of prepared 
willow averaged $33,000, and that of willow-work $170,000. 



The Osier Willow. 281 

distinctive characters are lost. They differ greatly in habit of 
growth, hardiness, and qualities suitable for various uses. The 
kinds suited to a given location can not be known before trial, and 
those wlio may engage in this planting will do well to experiment 
with several kinds before planting largely with any. In starting an 
osier plantation, it is recommended to obtain the cuttings in the 
latter part cf February or the first of March, and carefully kept 
from drying until ready for use. 

1136. The finest stems should be selected, from the wood grown 
the year before. The ground is marked out by cords, and some 
prefer to run the lines east and west. For the kinds that are to 
be cut every year, they may be set in rows 18 to 20 inches apart, 
and for those to be cut every'second year, they should be wider. 
For the white osier and the Caspian willow the space is sometimes 
30 inches between the lines, and the intervals between are planted 
with some crop. They should be at about one-third of tliese distances 
between in the rows. It is important that the ground sliould be 
well shaded, and the plants always grow more uniform when some- 
what crowded than when wider apart. In more open spaces, the 
sprouts branch, but the wood is more solid and durable. 

1137. The number of cuttings required for an acre will range 
from 18,000 to 75,000, and may be calculated by the aid of a table 
elsewhere given in this book. They must be cut smoothly into 
lengths of ten or twelve inches, and pressed into the soil, the butt- 
end first, so as to leave about an inch out of the ground. Care 
must be taken not to peel back the bark in setting, and a hole may 
be made with an old bayonet, or something of the kind, if the 
ground is a little hard. They should slope at an angle of 45° to- 
wards the north. 

1138. It is sometimes preferable to set in trenches, and in poor 
soils to fertilize with leaf-mold, stable-manure, or bone-dust. The 
manure should not be put in contact with the cuttings, but near 
them, and it is highly advantageous to irrigate with the soakings of 
manure during the summer. 

1139. The ground should be kept mellow and free of weeds, ana 
the first cutting, if delayed till the second year, will give a stronger 
growth to the roots. After the first the cutting may be made an- 
nually, or on alternate years according to the sizes desired. It 



282 The Osier Willow, 

should be done with a very sharp knife, bent flatwise to a right an- 
gle, with the cutting edge on the inside. 

1140. The time of .cutting should be always late in fall, or in 
winter, hid never in leaf-time, nor when in sajj. The rods should be 
be sorted into sizes, tied in bundles, dried in the sun, and stored in 
a dry place till ready for peeling. The rain discolors and injures 
them. When peeled, the rods arc first sot in the water, and where 
assisted by a constant and genial temperature this may be done at 
any time in the winter. When peeled, they should be dried for a 
day or so in the sun, and if properly cared for the wood will be 
white and brilliant. If not, they will have a dull yellow tint, 
which may be somewhat wliiteued by sulphur-fumes. 

1141. The bark stripped from osiers may be used for tieing bun- 
dles, or spread as litter in stables, and to some extent be cut up with 
straw and fed to stock. It is used in tanning leather for gloves, and 
for the preparation of salicine for medicinal use. In common prac- 
tice, from 18 to 20 per cent of willows were damaged, either from 
branching, injury to bark, crooked form, or dead tops. They 
sell at a discount of sixty to seventy per cent, and are used for in- 
ferior v.'ork. 

1142. When carefully managed, an osier field may last 25 to 30 
years, but a single year of neglect will greatly shorten this period. 
Something may be done to restore vigor, by letting the shoots re- 
main over a year, and by manuring, but as soon as the yield begins 
to fail it is best to begin anew. If on the same grounds the roots 
should all be taken out, and fresh soil from below be brought to the 
surface by spading. 

1143. An osier plantation costs about $20 to $30 a year for cul- 
tivation, per acre, and will yield from $100 to $125, The cultiva- 
tion has its perils, as well as its profits. It may be injured by early 
or late frosts, but only to kill the wood that has not ripened. The 
willow is sometimes attacked by the saw-fly, the Kematus ventralis, 
or nearly allied species, similar to those that attack the currant and 
gooseberry, by eating off the foliage. The best remedy is the dust 
of white hellebore freely sprinkled upon the leaves just after the 
eggs are hatched. This insect produces two broods a year, one in 
May and another in September. 

1144. Among the other enemies of the willow are a kind of fly 
(^Cecidomya salicbia) , which stings and lays eggs in tlie tender sprouts, 



The Osier and the Dutch Willows. 283 

causing a spongy excrescence and a scrubby growth. These insects 
in turn are attacked by the ichneumon insects, and the balance of 
nature badly disturbed by the former, lias been restored in a shigle 
season by the latter. Another insect (Tipula saliciperda) and sev- 
eral small beetles have at times proved injurious. 

1145. Among mammals the sheep, goat, rabbit, and mouse are 
often destructive, the former by eating the leaves and the latter by 
gnawing tlie bark. The red willow, from the bitterness of its bark, 
is less liable to injury than other cultivated kinds. In Europe, wil- 
lows sometimes suffer from hail, and insurance against this damage 
may be obtained as in other crops. 

1146. If exposed to cold and dry winds, the osiery should be pro- 
tected by wind-breaks of high trees, and the oaks, ashes, and firs 
are recommended for this use. In the cultivation between the rows 
when wide apart the first year beets, carrots, cabbages, or potatoes 
are employed. The weeding or cultivation should not be done when 
the shoots are forming. When done in fiill, after the leaves have 
fallen, they should be gathered and buried. The bind-weed (Con- 
volvulus, several sp.) and the djddcr (Cuscata) sometimes infest a 
willow plantation, and must be carefully extirpated. 

1147. The Dutch Osieu {Salix lanceolcda) is much used for 
hoops -and basket-work, and is best set in spring, in trenches about 
four feet apart, and from 30 to 40 inches between, in the rows. 
They should be fertilized with stable-manure as above described. 
Upon dryer ground the plants may be set a little closer together. The 
watering with manure-water is of first importance if the soil is 

poor. 

1148. When used to turn the course of rivers from encroaching 
upon land, the willow should be cut between October and April, and 
should be formed into frames, by inter\yeaving the smaller spray 
with larger timber, securing in place by piles, and covering w ith 
sand, gravel, or soil. It is well to load them down also with heavy 
stones. In a slight current this will often prove sufficient to form 
an artificial cape, and the mud settling above and below this obstruc- 
tion Avill gradually extend out the shore. The willows will push 
out fibrous roofs into the soil and sand, creating a surface vegeta- 
tion, and may be kept in this condition by being cut back from year 
to year. If such sloping barriers can form an angle up-stream, the 
effect is better. 



284 The Poplars and Cottonivoods. 

1149. The male plants of the purple, black, yellow, and some 
other willows, form very ornamental small trees, presenting a gay 
and rich profusion of early blossoms — the harbingers of summer, 
and the first food of the bee. 

The Poplaes and Cottonwoods (Genus Populus). 

1150. Of these there are about twenty species in the north tem- 
perate zone of the old world and the new. They occur in North 
America from the Arctic zone to Mexico, and throughout the whole 
breadth of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

1151. The American Aspen (Popidus tremuloides). This tree is 
extremely wide in its range. It abounds over the whole of the in- 
terior of British Columbia, and towards the north and east, char- 
acterizing some of the most fertile lands. In the southern part of 
the Province it is found usually along the borders of streams, and 
on the higher plateaux. In the Peace river country it comes up 
after fires, and often grows to a diameter of two feet. 

1152. The aspen is common throughout the region west of the 
Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, upon the Pacific coast, 
upon the slopes of mountains that border the sage plains, along the 
courses of what in winter are running streams. 

1153. In the mountain regions of the interior it is commonly 
called the " quaking asp," and grows in the upper valleys often in 
dense groves, where it shows a tendency to succeed the coniferous 
wuods when they have been destroyed. Its wood is sometimes 
burned into charcoal for smelting ores, and it has sometimes been 
used for telegraph-poles and railway ties, but it is too soft and per- 
ishable for any thing more than temporary employment in these 
uses. 

1154. The aspen is used to a considerable extent for the manu- 
facture of paper. The wood makes a very white pulp, but not as 
strong as that from spruce. 

1155. The White Poplar (Populus alba) . This is a naturalized for- 
eign species, sometimes called the " abele," " downy poplar," " silver 
poplar," or ' ' Dutch beech." It is said to be a native of Palestine, and 
the timber is by some writers supposed to be the *' shittim-wood" 
of Scripture, but more probably that was an Acacia. 

1156. This is a tree of remarkably rapid growth, and generally 
it shows a strong tendency to send up shoots from the roots. This 



The Poplars. 



285 



renders it troublesome in cultivated ground, but is a valuable qual- 
ity in woodlands. When grown in dense groves it runs up in slen- 
der form, and in a short time it becomes large enough for poles 
good for fencing, corn-cribs, and other farm uses. If cut early 
in summer it peels very easily, and it is then light but durable and 
strong, if not placed in contact with the ground. Michaux recom- 
mended it for extensive cultivation as a substitute for the tulip-tree, 
and Bryant regards it as superior to any of the native poplars. 

1157. It may be propagated by cuttings of the young wood or the 
roots, and from layers and grafts, and grows with great certainty in 




14G. Pojrulus ulba. — White Poplar. 

a moderately damp soil. The durability of the wood is increased 
by painting with coal-tar, which is best applied hot. The stronger 
contrasts between the upper and lower sides of the leaf are found 
in the tender varieties, while the kind with leaves lobed like the 
maple are found to be 'more hardy. 

1158. The Lombardy Poplar (Populus dilatata). This tree, 
from its tall columnar growth, furnishes an admirable wind-break, 
and it is still in France a favorite tree for planting along the road- 
side. The fashion in our New England and Northern States was 



286 The Poplars : The Cottonicoods. 

formerly quite prevalent, but the tree is short-lived, and most of 
these monotonous lines of trees have disappeared. When planted 
here and there, so as to be seen rising behind and among round- 
headed and coniferous trees, it has a pleasing eflcct. The wood is 
soft, brittle, and of little value-except for summer fuel. 

1159. This tree bears no pistilate flowers in our country, and it 
can only be proj^agated from cuttings and sprouts from the roots. 
Its chief value is for screens and wind-breaks, and in rich humid 
soils it grows with great rapidity. 

1160. The Laege-toothed Poplar (Popuhis grandidentata). 
This tree grows to a large size, and its wood is valuable for framing 
and lumber for inside work. It works smoothly, takes a good pol- 
ish, and is not liable to shrink. When cut and peeled in summer 
it is durable in the open air, if not in contact with the ground. 
This tree is very well suited for inside planting in groves. It can 
be readily propagated from seeds and cuttings. 

1161. For cultivation in the great open country east of the Cas- 
cade Mountains, in Washington Territory, the poplars become, es- 
pecially important timber trees, both as fuel and for fencing. 
The common aspen, as grown there, when peeled and seasoned, may 
be used for almost any purpose, if kept from the ground. A tree 
24 years old, has been known to measure two feet across the stump, 
and to yield two cords of wood. 

The Cottonwoods. 

1162. Various species of the genus Popidus are comprised under 
this name, the principal one being the P. monillfera. The common 
name is derived from the cotton-like tuft attached to the seeds, by 

which they are borne to great distances by the winds, 
and the specific name " monilifera" signifies " neck- 
lace-bearing," from the seeds being formed in a ser- 
ies of little balls, like a string of beads. This spe- 

147. Tuft ami Seed cics occcurs native throughout the Atlantic States 
of the Poplar. ^^,^^^^^ -^Tgw England to Nebraska and Dakota, and 

southward to Louisiana. It is not seen in Utah, is less frequent in 

Nevada, but occurs in California and Oregon. 

1163. It is extremely easy to cultivate in soils that are not to arid, 
and may be propagated from the seed, from cuttings, layers, or grafts. 
The most convenient way is perhaps from cuttings, but the best is 




The CottoniO:ods. 287 

from the young plants that spring np along the sand-bars of rivers. 
These natural nurseries are annually renewed by the seeds floated 
down by the streams, and furnish, practically, an inexhaustible sup- 
ply. In pulling out the young cottonwoods from the sand-bars in 
autumn, by selecting a place but little above the level of the 
water, they will come out very easily, and more than a thousand 
may be pulled up in half an hour, with the fibers of the roots en- 
tire. 

11G4. When these are heeled in during the winter, and plowed 
in early in the spring, they take a vigorous growth, and are scarcely 
checked by the operation. In setting these young seedlings, they 
will be sure to take an upward growth, at any angle they may hap- 
pen to be placed. They generally begin with a new bud near the 
base of the stock, and the part above soon perishes. 

11G5. A principal reason for collecting the seedlings of cotton- 
woods from river sand-bars m autumn is, that the bottom-lands are 
usually flowed in spring at the time when the young trees are needed. 
An easy method of securing an abundant supply of plants, is to 
plow in the branches covered with the seed, or by gathering the fertile 
catkins when ripe, rubbing them apart, and sowing on mellow, moist 
soil, lightly covering the seeds with earth. 

11G6. The Iowa Forestry Annual of 1879 recommends for Cot- 
tonwood cuttings, pieces two or three feet long and from one. to two 
inches in diameter, sawn into uniform lengths, and the lower end 
cut in a slope on one side with a very sharp axe. Ic advises that 
poplars and willows should be set deeply and firmly in the fall, and 
as soon as may be after they are cut. 

1167. As many as 3,000 cottonwoods may be planted in a day, 
by two men, a boy, and a team. The ground may be cultivated as 
for corn, for two or three years, or until the ground is well-shaded, 
when they will need no further care beyond protection from cattle 
and from fires. 

11G8. In deep, rich soils the cotton wood may sometimes do better 
at eight feet apart than when set at half this distance at first. This 
subject not only in this species, but in all others, should be an ob- 
ject of careful observation by the planter, and the conditions best 
suited to the locality can never be fully determined excepting by 
trial. 

1169. A variety known in the Missouri Valley as "yellow cot- 



288 The Cottonwoods : The Ailanthus, 

tonwood," appears to belong to this species, and the superior quali- 
ties claimed for it appear to be due to the soil and to the density of its 
growth. Isolated trees are generally mere thrifty, and therefore 
have more sap-wood, and are more difficult to split. When grov;n 
in the interior of a grove they are often less tough, and the quality 
of the wood is generally more dense and durable. 

1170. Cottonwood of the Pacific Coast (Popuhis tricJiocarpa). 
This tree grows to the height of 30 to 50 feet from San Diego north- 
ward. In Washington Territory it is found from 60 to 100 feet 
high, and from 2 to 6 feet in diameter. In British Columbia it is 
found chiefly in the valleys of streams and on the banks of rivers 
throughout the whole Province, and north-eastward in the Peace river 
district. It is used by the Indians of the interior in making their 
canoes. 

1171. A variety (P. augustifolia) is found in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and the P. bahamifera and P. monilifera, with several varie- 
ties somewhat uncertain as to their classification are also found, all 
bearing the name of " cotton wood." The Populus Fremontii grows 
to a large tree. 

1172. Angular-stemmed Cottonwood {Populus angulata). 
This is one of the cottonwoods of the Mississippi river and its trib- 
utaries, and is distinguished by its angular stems, and the absence 
of resinous and aromatic buds. The wood is soft, but of rapid 
growth. It docs not extend up the Mississippi river beyond Lake 
Pej^in. 

1173. Balm of Gilead Poplar (Populus cmullcans). This is a 
tree of very rapid growth, easily cultivated, and well adapted for 
planting as a shade tree. Its leaves give out a slight balsamic odor, 
and it has been recommended to plant groves of this tree along the 
borders of marshes, to intercept the malaria arising from such local- 
ities. A narrow-leaved variety, commonly called *' cottonwood " or 
'' willow-leaved poplar," occurs from Colorado and New Mexico to 
Washington Territory and Oregon, being the prevalent species in 
Nevada and Utah. 

The Ailanthus. 

1174. The Ailanthus glandulosa, or " tree of heaven," is a native 
of China, but has a wide range of adaptation to soils and climates, 
enduring heat and drouth very well, and thriving upon soils where 
many other kinds of wood fail. It grows rapidly, and is very apt 



The Ailanthus : The Madrona : The Maiizanita, etc. 289 

to send out tracing roots that sprout at a considerable distance from 
the tree. 

1175. The male flowers have a nauseating odor, that render this 
tree undesirable for cultivation near dwellings. It grows very well 
in the shade of other trees, and the spreading character of its roots 
render it useful in consolidating railroad embankments, and for re- 
boisement of mountains. It is grown from the seed, but is most 
easily propagated by planting sections of its roots, one end being 
exposed to the air. 

The Aeeutus, or Madrona, of the Pacific Coast (Arbutus Men' 

ziesii). 

1176. This occurs upon Vancouver and the neighboring islands, 
but always near the coast. It is a handsome evergreen, yielding a 
closely-grained and heavy wood, much like the box, and grows to 
from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, and to the height of 
fifty feet. It extends southward to Mexico and Texas, and, under 
favorable conditions, grows to eighty and a hundred feet in height, 
and to a diameter of from one to three feet. 

The Manzanita. 

1177. This is the Arctostaphjlos glaiiea of Lindley, and the Xero- 
botrys glauca of Nuttall. It belongs to the heather family (EricacecE), 
and is a large evergreen spreading shrub, with a red exfoliating 
bark and pinkish white flowers in a terminal racime. It abounds 
in California and Oregon — has great powers of endurance in 
drouth, and it is worthy of cultivation for variety in parks and 
pleasure grounds. The wood is very dense, reddish, and hard, but 
too small for much use. There are over a dozen species of the 
Arctostaphjlos, mostly humble shrubs. The A. glabra grows to from 
8 to 24 feet, and the A. pungens to from 3 to 20 feet in height. 

The Pawpaw (Asimiria triloba). 

1178. Some seven or eight species of the Asimina are found in 
North America, mostly in the Southern and Southwestern States 
and in Mexico, and, excepting the one above named, unimportant 
shrubs. The paAvpaw grows to some fifteen or twenty feet in height, 
generally in thickets, and it is chiefly important for its fruit, which 
in form and flavor somewhat resembles a bannana. 

19 



290 The Catalpas. 

SouTiiEEN Catalpa {^Catalpci hicjiiOnokles) } 

1179. This tree is found uative iu Georgia aud other Southern 
States, but has been widely cultivated for ornament in the Middle 
States and in Europe, where the climate is not too cold. It is 
found susceptible to frost, aud sometimes, after several years of 
apparent success, it will suffer great injury, or be wholly killed by 
a hard winter following a season that favored a late growth. 

1180. Under favorable conditions, it grows with great rapidity, 
and to a large size, being fifty feet or more in height, and from 
eighteen to twenty inches in diameter. It has large showy blos- 
soms, broad leaves, a silver-gray bark, which is but slightly fur- 
rowed, and a wdde spreading top. The branches are relatively 
few in number, and the capsules long, cylindrical, and pendant. 
The wood is grayish- white, of fine texture, and brilliant when pol- 
ished, much resembling that of the butternut, but of less reddish 
hue and of greater durability. 

1181. Hardy Catalpa {Catalpa speciosa). For many years 
there has been cultivated in Ohio, Indiana, and other Northern and 
AVestern States a form of catalpa that was long considered a hardy 
variety of the C. big)ionoides. It was found to be not only liardy, 
but very durable. Its habit was more erect, growing in dense 
groves, with stems 50 feet in height ; the bark was more closely ad- 
herent and furrowed vertically, much like that of the white ash. 
The flowers are larger, nearly pure white, and about three weeks 
earlier than the other species. 

1182. It is described by Dr. Engelmann (omitting the technical 
description of the flowers) as follows: ^ "A middle-sized tree, with 
grayish-brown, much cracked or furrowed, at last slightly flaky 
bark, and light-yellowish gray wood ; leaves large, truncated, or 
more or less cordate at base, slender, acuminate, soft, downy on the 
under side, inodorous. . . . Common in the low, rich, some- 
times overflowed woodlands near the mouth of the Ohio, along the 
lower course of that river and its confluence, and in the adjoining 
lowlands of the Mississippi, in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ken- 

1 Thus named by Walther. It is named C. cordifolia by Elliott; C. syr- 
ingaejolia by Sims, and Bignonia catalpa by JNIichaux. 

'^Botanical Guzeiie, V. No. 1, January, 1880. 



The Catalpas: The Mountain Mahogany. 291 

tiicky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas. According to Michaux, 
abounriing near the borders of all the rivers which empty into the 
Mississippi further south. Whether the localities cited by him in 
West Florida produce this or the eastern species is unknown. 
Flowers in May." 

1183. The specific name above adopted was given by Dr. John 
A. Warder, through whose writings, and those of the late E. E. 
Barney, of Dayton, Ohio, and others, the excellence of the tree for 
prairie-planting and profitable timber-growth have been chiefly 
made known. 

1184. The wood of this catalpa is light, yet strong enough for 
most purposes of construction. It has been used to advantage in 
bridge-timbers, where exposed to the Aveather ; it is a favorite ma- 
terial for fences, is easily worked, and durable as shingles, and is 
found serviceable as railroad ties. 

1185. This tree prefers low rich bottom lands, but is found to 
thrive upon a great variety cf soils. It has been planted with much 
success upon the bluff-formation of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and 
Nebraska. It is readily propagated from cuttings and layers, but 
to best advantage from the seed. These should be started in seed- 
beds, and be transplanted either in the fall or in the spring of the fol- 
lowing year. In sowing, the seed should be covered a quarter or a 
half of an inch deep with fine soil, and they should be well culti- 
vated and kept clear of weeds until they shade the ground. The 
practice has l^een adopted, to some extent, of cutting back the 
growth of the first year or two, so as tj secure a strong, vigorous 
sprout from the roots after they have become well established. 

Mountain Mahogany (Genus Cercocarpus ledifoUus). 

1186. This is a shrub or small tree, seldom growing more than 
thirty feet high and a foot in diameter, with an excessively hard 
close-grained Avood. It grows in the most arid and rocky places, not 
usually in groves of considerable size, and from its great weight and 
hardness, it is most expensive to procure and to work. Its growth 
is exceedingly slow, and cultivation is quite out of the question, with 
any view of profit. There are about four other species in the 
United States and Mexico. They generally occur at from 6,000 to 
10,000 feet above tide. 



292 The Persimmon: The Euonymus : The Uolhj. 

Peksimmon {Diospyros Vlrginiana). 

1187. This tree, sometimes called the "date plum," belongs to 
the Ebony family, and is the only American representative of the 
Ebenacecd, Several species of this genus furnish the ebony of com- 
merce. They grow chiefly in the torrid zone, and are distinguished 
for the hardness of their wood, which is intensely black. 

1188. The persimmon grows to a tree sixty or seventy feet in 
height, from the southern part of Kew England, westward to Iowa, 
and southward to Florida and Louisiana.* Its fruit is intensely as- 
tringent when green, but becomes palatable when frozen. Some 
Asiatic species bear a large edible fruit, and have been introduced in 
California, with fair prospect of success. 

1189. The ^Iexican Persimmon (D. Texana) is a shrub from 
10 to 30 feet in height, and occurs in Southern and Western Texas, 
and in the adjacent parts of Mexico. 

The Bukning-Brush (Genus Euonymus), 

1190. Of this shrub there are three species native to the United 
States. They are sometimes trailing, or climbing by rootlets, and 
are very ornamental in autumn when their bright red fruit is ripe. 

The Spindle Tree (^E. atropurpureus) grows in dark, shady woods, 
the Atlantic States, from Canada to Florida, and has dark purple 
flowers, and a crimson fruit. The Strawberry Tree (E. Ameri- 
cana) has about the same range of latitude, and extends west to 
Iowa and Nebraska. The remaining species (E. auguetifolius) is 
found in Georgia. 

The Holly Family (Natural Order lUcinece). 

1191. This includes but three genera, of which the Ilex is the only 
one that claims our notice. It embraces about 145 siDccies, mostly 
South American pnd tropical; some of them are, however, widely 
scattered through the temperate zones. They are rare in Africa and 
Australia, and a dozen or so are natives of the United States. 

1192. The Common Holly {Hex opaca) is an evergreen tree, 
found growing in the Atlantic States, from Eastern Massachusetts 
southward, reaching its greatest development in the Southern States. 
In West Virginia it is found along mountain streams and gravelly 



The Holly Family : The Laurels. 293 

and stony soil, fifteen feet in lieiglit. In North Carolina it grows to 
thirty and forty feet, with a diameter of twelve to fifteen inches. 

1193. It is finely adapted for planting in avenues, and the wood 
is remarkably white and fine-grained, and is much used for inlaying, 
turning, and the finer grades of cabinet-work. Bird-lime is pre- 
pared from tlie middle-bark of tlie holly, and its leaves and bark 
are reputed to possess medicinal properties. It much resembles the 
European holly (^Ilex aquifolium), 

1194. The Daiioox (Ilex Dahoon) is a small southern tree, found 
growing on the borders of pine-barren ponds and swamps in the coast 
region of North Carolina and further southward. It sometimes 
grows to twenty-five feet in height. 

1195. The Yaupon (Ilex Cassine), or " emetic holly," is a shrub 
growing in the coast-region of the Southern States, sometimes reach- 
ing twenty feet or more in height, but generally less. Its leaves act 
as a diuretic, and are used medicinally. The Indians used a cold 
infusion, that they called " black-drink," at their councils, and it is 
said to enliven them in the place of opium. According to some ac- 
counts, however, this drink was a compound one, prepared from 
various roots. ^ 

1196. Other species of the (Ilex (formerly described under the 
genus Prino.^) occur as deciduous shrubs in swamps throughout the 
Atlantic States, but they present no interest for forest-culture, or 
practical use. 

1197. The "Mate" or Paraguay tea of South America, is made 
from a holly closely related to the I. Casdne^ and it is not improb- 
able that some advantage may be derived from its cultivation in the 
Southern States. 

Laurel (Genus Kalmia). 

1198. There are about half a dozen species of this genus, chiefly 
growing in swamps, or upon rocky hill-side, with thick evergreen 
leaves and showy red blossoms. Only one of them (K. latifolia) grows 
to much size, but this is sometimes found 30 feet high. The wood 
is very hard, close-grained, and often twisted into irregular forms, 
rendering it available for rustic furniture, for which it is chiefly em- 
jDloyed. 

1199. Another species (K. augustifoUa) , which grows further 

^ Procher's Rcsourccfi of the S nit hern Fields and Foresis, p, 431. 



294 The Sweet- Gum: The Magnolias. 

northward, is found in swamps, and is reputed to be poisonous to 
sheep, when its leaves are eaten. The honey gathered by bees from 
the laurels is also said to be poisonous. A drab-colored dye is got 
from the leaves, using copperas as a mordant. The K. glauca of 
California is an humble shrub. 

The Sweet-Gum (Genus Liquidamhar). 

1200. Of this there are two species ; one American, the other a 
native of Asia-Minor. The former of these (L. styracijiua) occurs 
widely distributed from New England to Mexico, and from the 
states bordering upon the Great Lakes to Louisiana and Florida. It 
prefers a deep, fertile soil, exposed to temporary inundations, and 
attains a large size in the Southern States. A tree is mentioned by 
Michaux as found growing in a swamp near Augusta, Ga., that was 
fifteen feet and seven inches in circumference at five feet from the 
ground. 

1201. In very warm climates a balsamic secretion is obtained from 
this tree. It comes from Mexico under the name of " copalm resin." 
It has some use in medicine, and is used as a perfume. The wood 
is compact, fine-grained, and susceptible of a bright polish. The 
heart-wood is reddish, and marked transversely with blackish belts. 
It is used to some extent for cabinet-wares and inside finishing, but 
does not bear exposure to the open air. It is cultivated in Eu- 
rope, but does not there bear seeds. 

The Magnolias (Genus Magnolia). 

1202. There are fourteen species of the magnolia, of which six 
occur in Japan, and eight are natives of the United States and Mex- 
ico. Our native magnolias chiefly occur eastward of the Alle- 
ghenies, and prefer a mild climate and a moist and fertile soil. 

1203. The "Cucumber Tree" (^Magnolia acuminata). This oc- 
curs in the states north of the Ohio river in great perfection, and 
grows to a large size. It is also found in the western parts of New 
York and Pennsylvania, in West Virginia, and the South-western 
States. Its leaves are deciduous, and under cultivation they fall 
into varieties differing in shades of color, forms of leaf, and tints of 
flowers. 

1204. It prefers a deep, rather damp and argillaceous soil, and a 
climate rather moist and not too cold. The seeds do best when 



The Magiioiias. 295 

sown in fall, with a covering of straw or litter in the winter, and in 
tlie>second or third year they may be re-set in the nursery. It is 
hard to transplant this tree when it gets of much size. It should be 
done in spriug, and without cutting back the head. As it tends to 
put out lateral branches when young, it should be somewhat crowded 
until it gets to sufficient height. If trimmed, it sliould not be done 
in sap-season, and the wounds should be covered with some substance 
that will exclude the air. 

1205. The '' Sw^vmp Laueel," or "Beaver Tkee" {Magnolia 
cjlauca), has large oval leaves, that remain on in winter, and largo 
fragrant and showy white blossoms. It is not of much account for 
its wood, but is valued as an oruamental shrub. It occurs native 
in swamps as far northward as Cape Aun, in Massachusetts, but 
thrives best in Southern New Jersey and further south along tho 
Atlantic Coast. 

1206. The " Large -Flowered Magnolia" of the Southern 
States {Magnolia grandiflora) is a magnificent evergreen tree, witli 
oval lanceolate leaves, rusty on the under side. It grows in tho 
low country of the Southern States, and when in blossom it is un- 
questionably the most showy of American trees. The flowers arc 
very fragrant. 

1207. As cultivated in Europe, this tree forms many varieties, 
differing in the form and size of the leaves, the earlier or later ap- 
pearance of its blossoms, their size, and other peculiarities. The 
most esteemed in France are la Maillardiere and la Gallssonierc. 
When propagated from seed, they should be sown as soon as ripe, 
in a light moist soil, and the young plants require careful nursing 
when young. Tlie varieties are multiplied by grafting by approach. 

1208. The Umbrella Tree (Magnolia umbrella) grows in the in- 
terior, as far north as Pennsylvania, chiefly in moist and wooded 
valleys, along and near the mountains. 

1209. The Heart-leaved Magnolia {Magnolia cordata) has de- 
ciduos leaves, which are broad, heart-shaped, and slightly downy 
beneath, and flowers that are yellowish and faintly streaked with 
red. It occurs sparingly in the interior and mountainous portions 
of the Southern States. 

1210. The Large-leaved Magnolia {Magnolia macrophylla) has 
a smooth stem, with little branches, whitish bark, large deciduous 
leaves, one to three feet long and six to eight inches wide, and large 
white fragrant flowers tinged with jiurple. 



296 The Magnolias : The Iron- Wood: The Mesquit. 

1211. The Auricle -LEAVED Magnolia (Magnolia aiiriculata) has 
also laro-e broad leaves, eight to twelve inches long, with an ear- 
shaped appendage at their base, deciduous and smooth upon both 
sides. It grows to a height of 30 to 40 feet in the mountains of the 
Southern States, and bears large fragrant white flowers. 

1212. The magnolias do not bear transplanting well, and can be 
best started in pots, carefully removing all the soil with the roots 
when it is placed in the ground. 

1213. The Pride-of-India (Melia Azedarach). This is a decidu- 
ous tree, introduced from Asia, but now common as a shade tree 
from cultivation in the Southern States. It grows to forty or fifty 
feet in height and often three feet in diameter. 

1214. The Iron-wood (Genus Ostrtja.) Of this genus there are 
but two species, and these are scarcely distinct. One is found in 
the Old World and one in the New. Our iron-wood (0. Virginica) 
does not grow to a large size, nor does it occur in groves by itself, 
but scattered here and there among other hard woods. Its bark 
is thin, brown, and rough, and its wood unusually solid and strong. 
It is not often cultivated for ornament, but grows very well when a 
little sheltered by other trees. 

1215. The iron-wood ot the Western Territory is of a different 
genus (Ohieya tesota), and is of considerable value for its wood. 

1216. The Sorrel-Tree or Sourw^ood (Oxydemlram arhoreiim). 
This is a tree growing in fertile woods in Western Pennsylvania, in 
Ohio, and along the Allegheny range southward into the Southern 
States. It grows to a hight of 15 to 40 feet, and derives its name 
from its acid foliage. 

1217. Mesquit (Prosopis glandulosa). This is one of the legu- 
minous family that thrives in the southern portion of the territories, 
in the hot dry valleys, and on the Mesas. It grows to a foot in di- 
ameter, and to thirty feet or more in height. The wood is hard and 
durable, and the fruit, a kind of bean, is eaten by animals. In 
AVestern Texas, a gum is collected from this tree much resembling 
gum-arabic. 

1218. The Screw-Pod Mesquit (Prosoj)is pi(bescens). This is 
smaller and less common than the preceding, but of similar qualities. 

1219. The Buckthorn (Rhamrms catharticus) . This is a Eu- 



The Sumacs. 297 

ropean shrub that is sometimes cultivated as a hedge-plant, and 
when alone growing to a small sized tree. About sixty species of 
the Ehamnus are described by botanists, occurring as natives of 
Europe, Asia, and America. They prefer the warmer parts of the 
temperate zone, are rare in the tropics, aud do not occur in Austra- 
lia or the Pacific islands. About a dozen species occur witliin tlie 
United States, mostly thorny shrubs, some of them with evergreen 
leaves, but not of much account for cultivation, unless, perhaps, as 
hedge plants. 

The Sumacs (Genus Rhus.) 

1220. Of these there are some 120 species, cliiefly found in South 
Africa, and the warmer parts of extra-tropical countries in both 
hemispheres, a few being found within the tropics. About 14 spe- 
cies occur within the United States. 

1221. The Stag-Horn Sumac {Rhus tijphina). This is a small 
tree or more frequently a shrub, growing from Canada southward to 
South Carolina and Louisiana, and westward to Iowa. It some- 
times is found 25 feet high and one foot in diameter. Tlie wood 
when freshly cut has a rich, glossy, golden and brown color, but 
this fades when exposed to the sun. The leaves are used for tanning 
and dyeing. 

1222. The Smootpi Sumac {Rhus glabra). This occurs in about 
the same range as the preceding, but is smaller. The leaves con- 
tain more tannin than the last named, and afford most of the sumac 
that comes to market from Virginia, as a tanning material. 

1223. Rhus lauriana. A large evergreen and leafy shrub, with 
an aromatic odor, found in California from Santa Barbara to San 
Diego. The pulp of the dry fruit is waxy, and the seeds are said 
to contain a pungent oil. 

1224. Rhus integrifolia. This is a stout-branching evergreen 
shrub, 5 to 10 feet high, occurring along cliffs near the sea, from 
Santa Barbara to San Diego, and also in the interior. The bark 
exudes an astringent gum resin. 

1225. Several of the sumacs {Rhus toxicodendron, R. venenata, R. 
pumila, R. dlversiloba) are poisonous to some persons, when handled, 
causing a painful eruption and swelling that may continue several 
days. 

The Sassafras {Sassafras officinale). 

1226. This belongs to the laurel family, aud is widely distributed 



298 The Sassafras: The Mahogany, etc. 

from New England to Iowa, and througliout the Middle and Southern 
States. In Massachusetts it is found thirty feet in height and a foot 
in diameter. lu West Virginia it is sometimes seventy or eighty 
feet high and three feet in diameter, and in West Tennessee a speci- 
men has been measured five feet across the stump within the bark. 
In Canada it is only found westward of the Niagara river. The wood 
is soft, brittle, close-grained, and sometimes used in cabinet-work, 
when stripped of its bark, and seasoned, it is durable as fence-posts. 

1227. An essential, oil having valuable medicinal qualities, is dis- 
tilled from the bark of the roots, and the pith from the young twigs 
is mucilaginous and medicinal, being worth from $3 to $4 a pound. 
The roots also yield a drab-colored dye, with copperas as a mordant, 
and the leaves when steeped in water afford an agreeable and healthy 
mucilaginous drink. The roots of sassafras are very tenacious of 
life, and will sprout and grow with a remarkable i^ersistency until 
wholly eradicated. 

1228. The Buffalo Berry (Shepherdla argentea) is a spiny shrub, 
growing 5 to 18 feet high, and occurs east of the Sierras and from 
New Mexico ftir into the northern regions of British America. It 
has been mentioned as available on account of its fruit, and as a 
hedge plant in the west. 

1229. The Mahogany (Swietenia mahoganii). This highly prized 
"wood for fine cabinet-work, chiefly comes from the West Indies, 

Mexico, and Central America, 
but is found adapted to culti- 
vation in Florida, and has been 
considered a native of that 
state. Although an exogenous 
tree, the lines of growth, as in 
147. Cross-section of Mohogany. many Other tropical species, 

are seldom sharply defined, as where the growth has been distinctly 

interrupted by a cold winter. 

1230. Arrow- Wood (Tcssaria horealis). This is a branching 
willow-like shrub several feet higli, growing on the sand-banks of 
rivers from New Mexico to California. The Indians are said to use 
the wood for arrows. 

1231. The CAi^iFOni^iAljAVREh (Umhrellularia Calif ornicd)^ This 

1 By gome botanists called ^'■Oreodaj)hne Calif ornica.''^ 




The California Laurd: The Conifers. 



299 



tree, sometimes called the " mountain laurel " or " spice-tree," grows 
to the height ef seventy feet, in favorable locations, but ordinarily 
not more than from 10 to 30 feet. It gets its finest development in 
Oregon, but extends southward into Mexico. The wood is well 
adapted for cabinet-work, and is sometimes highly ornamental. 




148. Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit of the Umhrcllularia Californicn, of one-half 

tlio Natural Size. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE CONIFERS. 



1232. The Coniferce may be undoubtedly regarded as the most 
important timber trees known in commerce, and of the greatest 
utility to man. They are, for the most part, evergreen, and are 
widely scattered in both temperate zones and upon mountains within 
the tropics, being the last every-where to disappear at the timber- 
line. [g§ 107, 108.] In Northern Europe, in Siberia, and upon 



300 The Conifers. 

the western coast of North America, they form the principal and 
often the only trees over wide areas. 

1233. Tlieir wood, under the microscope, shows an abundance 
of bordered pits [§ 25G], by which the smallest fragment may be 
identified, even in the fossil form. The sexes of the bloss >ms are 
separate, on the same or on different trees ; they have no floral en- 
velopes, and tlieir pollen is provided with an arrangement that ren- 
ders it buoyant, so as to be carried unusual distances in the winds. 
The ovules or young seeds have no pericarps, and are fertilized by 
direct contact of the pollen, without either stigma or style, and for 
this reason they are called gymnosperms.^ The seeds contain several 
cotyledons [§ 132], instead of one, as in endogenous plants, or a 
pair, as in most of the species noticed in the preceding pages, and 
from this they are also called pohjcotyledonoits. The number is 
usually from six to ten, and hence the germinating seed presents 
leaves of corresponding numbers. 

1234. The seeds of this order are usually placed between hard, 
woody scales, arranged spirally and regularly around an axis, form- 
ing, until ripe, a solid conical or ovoid mass, and they are in many 
species provided with a wing that enables them to be wafted by the 
winds, when they are liberated by the opening of the scales. The 
structure of the blossoms and seeds of one of the most important 
of the genera in this order may be seen in the annexed engraving. 

1235. In some cases, the cones that bear the seed can scarcely 
be recognized. The scales become pulpy and tiie fruit berry-like ; 
in many species there is no trace of a wing to the seed, and the 
fruit may be solid and nut-like. Sometimes the seeds are large and 
edible. In the structure of the cone, and otherwise, the coniferse 
present analogies to the higher lycopods or club-mosses, and to the 
vegetation that prevailed in the carboniferous j^eriod, the remains 
of which form the bulk of our mineral coal. 

1236. In most of the conifers we find resiniferous cells in the 
wood of the trunk, branches, and roots, the bark, and sometimes, as 
in the pines, in the leaves. [§ 793.] The leaves in transverse sec- 
tions present a cellular structure, very uniform in the different spe- 
cies, and affording characters upon which a classification has been 
based. AVe see an examj^le of this in Fig. 20 of the accomi^anyiug 
engraving. 

^A term from the Greek, sisnifvinir " naked seeds." 



The Conifers. 



801 




18 13 



tl 12 



149. Pinus sylvestris : Scotch Pine.— 1. A twig with a defected pistilate flower. 2. An older twig, 
bearing a cluster of oval staminate flowers. 3. The former enlarged, ns it approaches 
the period of maturity. 4. The same after the scales have openedto allow the seeds to 
escape. 5. The pistilate blossom, somewhat enlarged. 6,7.8 8cales, 9. The inside of 
a scale, with the seeds in place. 10. Back view of a thickened scale. 11, 12. The seed, 
with its wing, natural size, and enlarged 13. Staminate flowers, somewhat enlarged. 
14,1.5. Stamens. It), 17. Pollen-trrains inflated 18. A seedling, showing five seed-leaves, 
19. Leaves in pMirs. 20. Transverse s(jction of a leaf, showing the structure of cells, 
some of them being rcsinifei'ous canals. 



302 The Conifers. 

1237. Although the conifers thrive in a great variety of soils and 
situations, it may be said that no soil which is compact, clayey, and 
underlaid by an impervious sub-soil, preventing it from drainage, is 
suited to them. But a few will grow in the mud, but with these 
exceptions almost every other kind of soil agrees with one or another, 
and especially those where the calcareous or the silecious element 
predominates. 

1238. When young, nearly every species delights in a sandy 
loam, although when more advanced they may sometimes require a 
more substantial kind. The seeds should be sown early, and be 
covered thin. A mixture of about one-third sand and two-thirds 
mold is generally suitable for the seed-bed. Many kinds do very 
■well in a dry soil, but they need more humidity in the early years, 
which is secured in the natural forests under the shelter of the par- 
ent trees. It is more effectual, if accompanied by a high tempera- 
ture. All of these conditions are best managed in seed-beds and 
nurseries, and hence the advantages generally of starting conifers 
in nurseries first and of transplanting them while small. Of all 
trees the conifers suffer most and soonest from the exposure of their 
roots to the air, and the greatest possible care should be taken to 
prevent them from drying. 

1239. Among the conifers there are many ornamental species and 
varieties that can be multiplied and perpetuated by grafting and by 
cuttings. These are delicate operations, and require special skill 
and convenient arrangements, found only among professional nur- 
serymen. We can only here state some of the principal points con- 
cerning them.^ Cuttings may be taken from the trees in spring, 
before vegetation has started, or in fall, after the growth of the year 
has formed. They are set in little pots, filled with light sandy soil, 
cr in little beds, under glass, in a multii^lying bed, where the tem- 
perature is regulated, and they are properly sprinkled. 

1240. For grafting, the terminal shoot is taken as a scion, and if 
the hardened wood is used, the best time for grafting is in autumn. 
By a delicate, but generally certain process, the shoots, wiiile still 
herbaceous, may be grafted in the growing season, in the month of 
May. In grafting conifers, care must be taken that the stock be as 

^A detailed description of these methods is given in Forestry Report, 
Vol. II., p. 75 to 80. 



The Conifers. 30 5 

nearly related to the scion as may be ; as, for example, pines should 
both be two-leaved, three-leaved, or five-leaved, and some, like the 
white pine, are very difficult to graft at all. We can not take dif- 
ferent genera of conifers, nor these of the same genus and subdi- 
vision, unless of equally vigorous growth. 

1241. For reasons already stated [§ 299], we can not cultivate 
the conifers of the Pacific Coast in the Atlantic States with 
success. Those from the mountains can be removed with much 
better chances of their living, but to do this with certainty the 
greatest care must be taken to keep the roots from the air, and to 
bring an abundance of the soil with them. 

1242. After excavating around the tree, so as to include as many 
of the small roots as possible, and without disturbing them, a sheet 
of coarse canvas should be passed under the roots and bound firmly 
around them. The trees should not be more than three or four feet 
high; they should be selected from open places, and the more un- 
disturbed soil that is taken with them the greater will be the 
chances of their living. 

1243. In planting conifers in the prairie regions west of the Mis- 
sissippi, the greatest difficulty has been met with, on account of the 
dryness of the climate, and the great and sudden changes of tem- 
perature that occur. Indeed, very many have failed altogether; 
perhaps after giving some promise of success for a few years, until 
overcome by a dry season or other adverse conditions. 

1244. The kind of all others most likely to succeed in Iowa and 
Southwestern Minnesota, is the native red cedar. According to the 
opinion of careful observers those that next after this should have 
order of preference would be : 1. Scotch pine ; 2. White pine ; 
3. Austrian pine ; and, 4. Red pine. 

1245. The conifers embrace about 300 species, which are arranged 
by Bentham and Hooker^ into six families, based upon common re- 
semblances, as follows : 

I. The Cypress Family (Cupressince') , including seven genera, of 
which the California white cedar (Libocedrus) , arbor-vitoa or common 
white cedar (T/ii/^/a), cypress {Cupressus), ^nd junipers {Juniperus),?iVQi 
native in the United States. The remaining three occur in Asia, 

^Genera Plantarum, iii., Part I., p. 420 (1880). 



8G4 The Conifers. 

Africa, Australia, and South America, but may be cultivated to ad- 
vantage iu some parts of tlie Uuited States. 

II. The Bald-Cypress and Allied Family (Taxodiecc), includ- 
ing the Japanese cedar {Cryptomerid) , bald cypress (Taxodium'), red- 
wood and giant tree {Sequoia), and two other Australian and East- 
ern Asiatic genera. 

III. The Yew Family' (Taxece), including the yew (Taxiis), Cal- 
ifornia nutmeg {Torrega), ginkgo {Salisburia) , and three other Aus- 
tralian and South American genera. 

IV. The Podocarpcce, of which three genera occur in Asia, Africa, 
Australia, and South America. 

V. NoEFOLK-IsLAND PiNE Famtly (Araucariece), three species 
of which are found in Eastern Asia, China, Australia, South Pa- 
cific Islands, and South America. 

VI. The Pine and Fir Family {Ahietineai) , embracing the pines 
{Pinus), cedar of Lebanon {Cedrus), spruce (Picca), Hendock 
{Tsuga), Douglas fir {Pseudotsuga), fir {Abies), and larch {Larix). 

1246. In the cypress family we have 14 species of the CalUtris or 
Atlas cedar, the stump and roots of which afford the costly " thuja" 
of cabinet-makers, and one of the finest of woods. The gum-senegal 
of commerce comes from trees of this genus. None of them are 
found in North America, but are natives of Africa, Madagascar, 
Australia, and New Caledonia. Two other genera, Actlnostrobus 
and Fitzroya, are also exotic. 

1247. The California White Cedar (Libocedrus decurrens). 
This is sometimes calhd " incense cedar," and occurs widely distrib- 
uted in California and Oregon, chiefly upon the mountains of the 
interior, where it sometimes grows to six or seven feet in diameter, 
at a yard from the ground, and to a height of 100 to 150 feet. 
There are about 8 specii?s known, but this is the only one within our 
limits. In general habit and quality of wood, it much resembles the 
common white cedar of the Atlantic States (Thvja occidentalis) , and 
it thrives very well in the east, where it forms a fine ornamental 
evergreen. 

The Arbor- vitvES or White Cedars (Genus Thuja). 

1248. These as now arranged by the authors above cited, embrace 
under this genus a dozen species, of which five occur within the United 
States. The cones consist of scales, from eight to twelve in number, 
which have a pair of ovules at the base of each. The seeds ripen 



The White Cedars. 305 

the first year, and when ripe the scales become strongly reflexed. 
In the Atlantic States and Canada, we find two species, viz.: 

1249. The Aebor-Vit.e (^TJwJa occldcntalis) is found in swamps, 
and upon rocky blufl^j, throughout the inland portions of the North- 
ern and Northwestern States, extending far northward in British 
America, but not into the Southern States. The wood is soft and 
easily split, has an agreeable balsamic odor, and is very durable. It 
is made into shingles, pails, churns, buckets, and other hollow-ware, 
is durable, and much prized for fence-posts, and is largely used 
for telegraph-poles, and in late years for railroad ties. It grows well 
under cultivation, and makes one of the most excellent of screens 
and wind-breaks. Nothing would prove more effectual than this 
for preventing drifting snows, in exposed places along the public 
roads. 

1250. It is best propagated from seeds in nurseries, and then 
transplanted in spring. It should have some shelter on the south 
side, as every one must have noticed, w ho has attempted to plant on 
both sides of a board fence running east and west. It would be 
well to provide a row of some other trees for this use, two or three 
years before the cedar is set, and take it away when no longer 
needed. This tree when cut back will thicken up very well at the 
bottom. When set it should be well watered, and if followed by 
a dry summer, the watering should be repeated till the plants get 
well rooted. 

1251. This cedar will endure burying in the sand to a remark- 
able degree. In one instance on the shore of Lake Michigan, one 
of these trees had been gradually buried to a great depth, and after- 
wards left bare by the drifting away of the sands. It was found that 
roots had been successfully put out from the trunk, to the height 
of more than thirty feet. This quality renders it valuable in fixing 
drifting sands, wherever it can be made to grow. 

1252. The "White Cedar" (Thuja sphaercedalls — formerly 
known as '^Cypressus thjoides" or later ^'Cliamaecyparis tJiyoides") is 
the common white cedar of the Atlantic Coast. It also occurs, but 
less frequently, in swamps along rivers in the interior. It extends 
from Massachusetts to Texas, and occurs abundantly in New Jer- 
sey, growing in dense masses in swampy ground. In some places 
along the southern coast it is called the "juniper." It prefers the 
lowlands along rivers and the forest swamps of the low pine barrens, 



306 Buried White Cedar. 

and grows sometimes to 70 or 80 feet in height, with a diameter of 
two feet. 

1253. This is one of the most valuable timber trees of the coun- 
try, the w^ood beiug fiue-grained, soft, light, aud easily worked, with 
a strong aromatic odor. It is used for frames of buildings, shingles, 
and coopers' wares, and its charcoal for gunpowder. Lamp-black 
of the best quality is made from its smoke. 

1254. '' Enormous quantities of this wood are found buried in salt 
marshes in Southern New Jersey, where no timber now grows. In 
searching for it, the marshes are probed with iron rods, and when a 
tree is found, its size, direction, and quality are ascertained. By 
tearing off a piece of wood, it may be known by the odor, whether 
it fell from age, or was blown down by the winds. If the latter, it 
is more valuable, and after cutting away the turf at the top, the 
wood is sawn off in two places, when it will rise and float, always 
bottom upwardsy because the lower side is soundest, and tlie upper 
side may have been long exposed to the weather. The wood has all 
the buoyancy of fresh cedar, not being in the least water-logged, 
and the under bark is still fresh. 

1255. " Occasionally a log will be got out that is thirty feet long. 
It is generally sliorter, and is worked up into shingles of the very 
best quality. Tree after tree, from 200 tD 1,000 years old, may be 
found lying across one another, some partly decayed, as if they had 
stood a long period after they were dead. The larger logs are some- 
times sawn into boards. 

1256. " From $9,000 to $10,000 worth of shingles, valued at $15 
per M., have been made in a single year from this buried cedar in 
the vicinity of Dennisviile. The occurrence of this cedar on a level 
now below that of the sea, is deemed conclusive evidence of the sub- 
sidence of this coast ; but this timber must have grown many thou- 
sand of years ago, and must have been growing for a long period to 
accumulate so great a quantity." ^ 

1257. The Giant Arbor- Vit.e (Tliuja giganted) is by far the 
finest of the cedars, and grows to a size scarcely inferior to that of 
t.ie Douglas fir and the sugar-pine. The branches are drooping 
and the tree more symmetrical than the common white cedar, and 
the wood is white and easily worked. It grows to great perfection 

"^Forestry Report, 1877, p. 459, and authorities there cited. 



Western Cedars: Cypresses. 307 

in Oregon, Washington Territory, and northward to Alaska, being 
especially well developed upon the Coast and Cascade Ranges, where 
it grows from 100 to 250 feet high, and from 3 to 12 feet in diam- 
eter. When free to develop itself, it takes a narrow pyramidal 
form, with somewhat drooping branches and a light green foliage. 
It is not common in California, but is found as far south as San 

Diego. 

1258. In British Columbia, this is called the " yellow cypress" or 
"yellow cedar," and is limited to the coast and islands. It often 
exceeds six feet in diameter, and the wood is strong, free, and of fiue 
grain, with a pale golden yellow tint, and a slight peculiar resinous 
smell. It is very durable, and has been used to some extent for 
boat-building and for various ornamental uses. The giant-cedar is 
an important timber tree in British America, and on the coast it 
often exceeds fifteen feet in diameter, with a height of 100 to 150 
feet, but such trees are invariably hollow. The Indians use this 
tree for making their large and elegant canoes, and from the fiber 
of the inner bark they make ropes. 

1259. The Nootka Cedar (Thuja excelsa), heretofore known as 
the ''Curpessus Nutkanua," is found from Alaska southward to the 
Columbia river, and grows to the height of 80 to 100 feet, with a 
soft white and valuable wood. It is sometimes known as the " Or- 
egon cedar," the " white cedar," the " ginger pine," etc. 

1260. Lawson's Cedar (TJmja Lawsoniana) is a handsome tree, 
growing in the Shasta mountains and northward, in the Cascade 
range. This species is often cultivated for ornament, and it runs 
into varieties, which are often very beautiful. 

The Cypresses proper. (Genus Cupressus.) 

1261. These differ from Thuja, in being of stifFer and stronger 
growth, having larger cones, with thick scales, and ripening the sec- 
ond year. About a dozen species are known, of which four are found 
in the United States, chiefly upon the Pacific Coast. 

1262. The Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) grows in 
a very limited region, near Monterey, and is a tree 40 to 50 feet 
high, with a diameter of two to four feet. It is quite ornamental. 
Three other species, the C. Goveniana, C. 3Iacnabiana, and C. Arizo- 
nica, have been described, but are of slight importance as timber 



308 7 he Junipers : Red Cedars. 

trees. The first grows to the height of seventy feet, and is said to 
be a beautiful tree. 

The Junipers. (Genus Juiiiperus.) 

1263. Of these there are about twenty-five species, widely dis- 
tributed over the northern hemisphere, in temperate and cold cli- 
mates, but in the tropics only on high mountains. They are mostly 
small trees, thick at the base, as compared with their height, and a 
few of them growing to a large size. The bark is generally Ihin 
and fibrous, and the wood fine and compact (but not hard), durable, 
and exceedingly slow of growth. The outer layer of wood and the 
inner bark are resinous. The fruit ripens the second year, and is 
commonly called a berry, which, in the common j^iniper, is em- 
ployed medicinally. There are some eight other species of the 
juniper in North America, and most of them occur within the 
United States. The principal of these are as follows : 

1264. The Red Cedar (Juniperus Virgiivana). This is the 
largest and most widely spread of the junipers, extending from 
about latitude 45° in Canada, to the Gulf States, and from the At- 
lantic to the mountains that border the Pacific States. Between the 
Sierras and the Wahsatch Mountains it occurs at an elevation of 
5,000 to 7,000 feet above tide, and is there a small tree, usually not 
over a dozen feet high, and of low, compact form, scattered over 
the dry slopes, but nowhere in groves of much density. 

1265. In Tennessee, this tree occurs native to greatest perfection 
along the out-crop of the " glady limestone" forming an irregular 
belt, somewhat circular in outline, extending quite across the cen- 
tral part of the State. It has there been found three feet in diame- 
ter, near the ground, and sixty feet to the branches. It is being 
rapidly worked up, and in many counties, where once abundant, 
it is now exhausted. 

1266. The red cedar occurs along rocky ravines, in the region 
bordering upon the Great Plains, where it is the principal conifer 
found native, and the one most capable of cultivation for ornamental 
and useful purposes. 

1267. It is propagated from the seeds, and for planting, the ber- 
ries should be bruised and mixed with an equal or greater bulk of 
wet wood ashes. In three weeks the alkali will have cut the resin- 
ous gum, when the seeds can be washed clean from the pulp. This 



The Western Junipers, 309 

should be done in March. lu preparing the ground for seed-beds, 
it should be spaded to a foot or more in depth, and three or four 
inches aD the surface should be covered with a mixture of well 
rotted leaf-mold (or wood soil) and sharp sand. 

1268. The beds should be shaded, as is common with ever- 
greens, and should be vratered occasionally in the evening in case 
of drouth. They may be transplanted to nursery rows the second 
spring, and three years after, the alternate rows should be taken 'out. 
Screens of this evergreen are generally to be preferred to all others 
for orchards and buildings in the Northwestern and Western States. 

1269. The Western Juniper (Jimijoerus occidentalis). This 
species in Oregon grows to a tree sometimes three feet in diameter and 
forty feet high, but is more commonly a much smaller tree, and 
often bushy. It much resembles the red cedar, but it has larger 
berries, more glandular and resinous leaves, a loose reddish bark, 
and a wdiite wood. It grows east of tlie Sierra Nevada and Cas- 
cade Mountains in Oregon and Wasliington Territory, and varieties 
often with excentric layers of wood and scraggy growth occur in 
Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. In Western Texas it 
forms an important timber-tree, but not so large cr useful as the 
red cedar. 

1270. The California Juniper (Juniperus Callfornica) is a stout 
shrub or small tree, rarely 30 feet high, found growing from San Fran- 
cisco southward, chiefly along the Coast Range and the islands. A 
variety of smaller size extends over the southern parts of Utah into 
Arizona and Nevada, forming a small tree 20 feet high, that fur- 
nishes fire-wood to some extent in these regions. 

1271. Another juniper (the J. 'pachyplilcjca) occurs as a middle- 
sized tree, with a spreading rounded top, thick and much cracked 
bark, and pale reddish wood, is found in the interior of Arizona 
and New Mexico. It is probable- that some of tlie junipers now 
regarded as Mexican species may be found across our border, but 
they are of limited and altogether local importance. ' 

1272. The Savin (J. Sabitvi) is a prostrate shrub found in high 
northern latitudes, in both Europe and America, and occurs in the 
northern border of the United States, and upon mountains from the 
Atlantic coast to the great lakes, and in British Columbia on the Pa- 
cific coast. It spreads in dense masses over the rocks and sand. 



310 The Bald Cypress, etc. 

and it has a red heart-wood like the red cedar, but is too small for 
any use. 

The Bald-cypress, Red-wood, and allied Family. 

1273. These are included in the tribe Taxodiew, and are distin- 
guished by the arrangement of the scales of the aments, wliich are 
thickened, woody, close, and spirally placed. The ovules, instead 
of bein^^- in twos, are from two to six on each scale. The leaves are 
two-ranked or imbricated and alternate. 

1274. The Japanese Cedar (CryptoTneria Japonica) deserves no- 
tice in this connection as an easily-cultivated orn:imental tree, a na- 
tive of China and Japan, and suited to the climate of the Middle 
and Southern States. 

1275. The Bald-cypress (Taxodicum distichii'm) . This conifer 
is deciduous, and a native of the Middle and Southern Atlantic 




150. Leaves and Cones of tlic Taxodium distichum. 

coast. It also occurs in Southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and 
in the States southward, preferring a rich swampy soil, but growing 
very well on dryer laud. The trunk of the tree widens out towards 



The Bald Cypriss: The Sequoias. 311 

the roots, aud excresceuces called "cypress-knees" are thrown up 
from the root where the growth is luxuriant and the soil damp. 
These do not bear leaves, and often resemble bottles. The larger 
o: es are conical and hollow, aud are used for bee-hives, tar-buckets, 
and other purposes. 

1276. The wood of the bald-cypress is reddish, soft, and easil}'' 
split, but it works smoothly and is very durable. It is largely 
used for shingles, and is a valuable material for building, where 
great solidity is not required. In the swamps along the southern coast 
this timber is found buried, but still of excellent quality after thus 
lying for an unknown period. 

1277. This tree, when young, has a regular pyramidal form, but 
when older, a broad spreading top. It is easily cultivated, and 
much esteemed on account of its delicate and elegantly pinnate 
leaves, its slender spray, and bright green foliage, which becomes 
red in autumn. In the Bartram garden, near Philadelphia, there is 
a tree, planted by its founder, that is 130 feet high aud beautifully 
proportioned. 

1278. There are three grades of lumber from this tree known in 
the timber trade — the red, black, and white cypress, differing in the 
color of the heart-wood. The red is most valued, is less liable to 
split, and grows with a straight trunk, swollen at the base, the 
top is small, and the wounded bark reddish. The others can scarcely 
be distinguished from it until cut. There are two other species of 
this genus, one in Mexico, and besides these others now found only 
in fossil remains. 

1279. The bald-cypress, besides being exported in large quantities 
as planks and shingles, is much used in the manufacture of doors, 
window-saslies, and other building purposes. It scarcely has an 
equal in durability when set as posts. 

The Sequoias.^ 

1280. There are but two living species of this genus — the S. gi- 

^ Sequoia, known b,y the English name of George Guess, was a quarter- 
breed Clierokee Indian, wholly illiterate, and without any knowledge of the 
English or of the sound of any letter in written language. Having heard 
of writing, he applied himself to the construction of a syllabic alphabet, 
which, when once construed, became in a short time in common use among 
his people, and so simple that it could be learned in a daj'. It consisted of 
86 characters, each representing one syllable. Sequoia was forced to ami- 



312 



The Red- Wood. 



gantea, or giant-tree of California, and the S. sempervirens, or red- 
wood. The former 



grow in h'mited quan- 
tities, in groves 
known as tliose of 
Cahiveras, Tuolum- 
ne, Merced, and Mar- 
iposa. In Fresno 
county, Cal., there 
have been found oth- 
ers in recent years, 
in one place scatter- 
ed over a region forty 
miles in length by 
six or eight in width, 
and the tree is now 
raised from seed in 
various parts of tlie 
world. It has been 
tried many times in 
the Atlantic States, 
but from differences 
of climate it has al- 
most uniformly fail- 
ed, perhaps after a 
few years of appar- 
ent success. In Eng- 
land, it has been 
found to do best in 
a heavy clay soil, 
a damp climate, a 
moist sub-soil, but 
prefers high lauds 
to low, and is likely 




151. Leaves, (Jone, and Seeds of the Sequoia giqantea. 



to be injured by severe frosts and by east winds. 

grate with his tribe to beyond the Mississippi, and died in New Mexico in 
1S45. One of his jrraiidfathers was a white man, but in appearance and 
h:il)its he was wholly Indian. The name was applied by Endlicher, and has 
preference over " Welling tonia,'' as used by some English botanists. . . 



The Giant Trees of California. 



813 



1281. la its native region, it is considerably elevated above the 
sea level, and in summer it is warm and dry, with scarcely any rain. 
In winter the snows fall six feet or more in depth, and remain oa 
till May. 

1282. The " big trees" range from 250 to 360 feet in height, and 
from 40 to 64 feet in circumference. The bark is reddish-brown, 
and about two feet thick, and the wood soft, and much like that of 
the common white cedar in quality. 




152. Sequoia sempervirens : Leaves, Cone, and Male Flowers of the 
natural size. Both forms of the leaves are shown in this 

engraving. 

1283. The red-wood, although second in size, is first in value, be- 
cause more abundant and of exceedingly fine quality for joinery and 
all other uses for which the pine is commonly employed. The wood 
is not strong, but is durable, and has a reddish tint like red cedar; 



314 The Bed- M'ood: Ihe Yews. 

but this fades when exposed to light. It grows to ten and fifteen 
feet in diameter, and in extreme cases it has been seen over twenty 
feet in diameter and three hundred feet high. The range of this 
tree is limited to the western slopes of the Coast Eange, and upon 
the raetamorphic sandstones, which seem to be almost as essential to 
their welfare as the ocean fogs. 

1284. The scene presented by a red-wood forest is one of the most 
impressive kind. "Let one imagine an entire forest, extending as 
far as the eye can reach, the trees from eight to twelve feet in 
diameter and from two hundred to three hundred feet in heijht, 
thickly grouped, their trunks marvelously straight, not branching 
till they reach a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet, and then 
forming a dense canopy that shuts out the view of the sky; the 
contrast of the bright cinnamon-colored trunks with the somber, 
deep, yet brilliant green of the boughs ; the utter silence of these for- 
ests, where often no sound can be heard except the low thunder of 
the distant ocean," ^ and one finds a combination of the sublime and 
the beautiful that woodland s:;enery nowhere else presents. 

1285. This tree never extends far inland, nor beyond the fogs 
and rains of the Pacific coast, and it scarcely reaches the line of 
Oregon on the north. The red-wood has the property not common 
among the conifers, of sprouting from the stump, and its specific 
name is derived from this tenacity to life that it shows when cut. 

The Yew Family (Taxacece). 

1286. This differs greatly from the other conifers in its fruit, 
which is reduced to a single ovule, which, when ripe, is a hard 
seed surrounded by a pulpy covering. The leaves are linear, flat, 
arranged in two rows, and the blossoms are dioecious, solitary, 
and axillary. There are but two native genera to be noticed in 
this family. 

1287. The AMERiCAisr Yew (^Taxiis Canadeiisis) is a prostrate 
spreading shrub, common throughout the Northern States, and often 
known as " ground hemlock." It is of no account for its wood, but 
might be made ornamental in covering rock in parks and other 
places. 

1288. The Western Yew (Taxus brevifoUa). This is an upright 

^ Whitneijs Yosemite Book, p. 106. 



The Torreyas : The Ginkgo. 



315 



tree, growing to the height of from 50 to 80 feet, with a thin and 
rather light yellowish green foliage, much resembling the common 
yew of the Atlantic States in its blossom and fruit, but with 
shorter leaves, and an upright habit. This tree occurs on Van- 
couver's Island and the main shore opposite, in British Columbia, 
sometimes reaching a diameter of two feet. It is found southw^ard 
across the whole Pacific coast, to or near the Mexican line. The 
wood of this tree is very tough, hard, and of beautiful rose color, 
and is used for various ornamental purposes. It was formerly used 
by the Indians in making bows, spear-liaudles, fish-hooks, etc. 

1289. The European Yew (Taxusbaccata). This is readily cul- 
tivated for ornament, and there are many varieties. The " Irish 
juniper," one or these, has a tall, narrow growth. Other varieties 
form excellent screens in ornamental planting. 

The California Nutmeg Tree (Torreya CaJifornka). 

1290. This is a rare tree, growing along the Coast Range and the 
Sierras, to the height 
of from 50 to 75 feet, 
and closely r e s e m - 
bling the yew in its 
foliage and general 
appearance. It de- 
rives its name from 
the fruit, which lias 
the texture and ap- 

eparance of a nut- 153„ The Fruit and Leaf of the rorrei^a C'aZ(/oTO2ca. 

meg, but is strongly charged with turpentine, and of no available 
use. 

1291. Another species, the "stinking yew" {T. taxlfolia), occurs 
within a narrow range in North-western Florida, where it is a small 
tree of from twenty to forty feet in height. It derives its name 
from the foetid odor of the leaves when bruised. 

The Ginkgo (^Salisburla adlantifolia). 

1292. This remarkable " conifer " is introduced from China and 
Japan, and is easily cultivated. Although belonging to the coni- 
fers, its single seed is imbedded in a pulp ; although associated with 
the evergreens, it sheds its leaves promptly in autumn, and it has 




316 The Ginkgo: The Fine Tribe. 

no resin in its wood, as most of the "resinous species " have with which 
it is classed. Its leaves are broad and wedge-shaped, usually two-lobed, 
and as unlike the usual form of coniferous leaves as can well be im- 
agined. Its wood is soft and spongy, and its bark smooth and ash- 
colored. It has borne fruit in the United States, and in China it 
grows to enormous size. 

1293. It docs not tlirive in a frosty climate, but will live and bear 
leaves, without gaining ia size, in Northern New York and in cor- 
responding latitudes. Near Philadelphia trees have grown to GO 
feet or more in height. This tree shows in its mode of branching 
some relationship to the spruce, and is most interesting from the 
exceptional character of its leaves, and its general habit of growth. 
The remaining genera of the yew family are all exotic, and will 
not be noticed. The same remark applies to tlie families Podocarpew 
and Araucariece, which present many interesting species, of great 
value in their native countries for their timber, and of interest with 
us only where they may be used in ornamental planting. 

The Pine Family. 

1294. The sixth and last family of the conifers— the Ahiet'mece — 
includes seven genera, viz.: P'uius, the pines; Cednis, the cedar of 
Lebanon ; Plcea, the si^ruces ; Tsuga, the hemlocks ; Pseudotsuga, 
the Douglas fir; Abies, the firs; and Larix, the larches. All of 
these but the second are natives of the United States, and find 
within our limits their grandest development. Their commercial 
importance demands a special notice. 

The Pines. (Genus Piniis.) 

1295. Botanists describe about seventy species of the pine, chiefly 
in the northern hemisphere, and of these about twenty-four belong 
to the old world. In the United States we have about thirty species, 
of which a dozen occur in the Atlantic States, and the remainder in 
the Rocky Mountain region, and upon the Pacific Coast. Some six- 
teen or seventeen are found in Mexico and the AVest Indies. They 
are divided into groups, depending upon the number of leaves in a 
common bundle, the form of the seed-scales, and other charac- 
ters. 

129G. The pines bear their seeds in pairs, between the scales, of 



The Pines. 317 

the cones, and usually ripen in the autumn of the next year after 
they blossom. Occasionally the cones remain closed for several 
years, and in these cases the seeds retain their vitality a long time.- 
The leaves come out from a sheath, in groups of two, three or five, 
except in one species, where they are single. They are linear, aud 
from one to sixteen inches in length, and remain on two or three 
years, cr even longer. In transverse section, they show resin -ducts 
aud air-cells that are symmetrical, and, in a given species, very con- 
stant in their arrangement. The seeds of the pines are generally 
winged, and in some species they are large and edible. The num- 
ber of cotyledons varies from 4 or 5 to 15 or 18, and is nearly con- 
stant in a given species. 

1297. In some species, as in the sugar-pine, and the heavy yellow 
pine of the Pacific States, they grow to a size surpassed only by the 
Sequoias, and sometimes they live to a great age. A section of 
white pine, from Canada, was shown at the Centennial Exhibition 
at Philadelphia, that was G64 years old, and a plank, without waney 
edges, was eight feet four iuchcs wide, aud nine inches thick. The 
growth of the pines is most rapid in early years, the annual rings 
being generally narrower as the trees approach maturity. 

1298. The sap-wood does not change to heart-wood until after 
many years — in some cases 100 or over, and on an average about 
20 years. This sap-wood is white, but is generally perishable, 
especially' when exposed to the weather. It is owing to this quality, 
thtit second-growth pines have a poor reputation for lumber, and 
are actually worth bat little, except for the coarser uses. 

1299. Commercially, the pines afford the most important timber 
of the American markets, and immense quantities are used every 
year in building, fencing, and for exportation. Our space will not 
admit of a detailed description of all the species found native in the 
country, which could not be done without involving technical de- 
scriptions that properly belong to special botanical works. ^ 

1300. The pines are divided into two sections, viz.: Strobm and 
Pinaster. In the first of these, or the " white pines," the scales of 
the cones are thin and smooth, and the leaves occur in fives. The 

1 One of the latest revisions of the Pines is given by Dr. Georire Engel- 
mann, in the Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Yol IV., 
]S^o. 1. (1880). 



S18 



The Pines, 



species In this section arc Pimis strobus^ P. monticola^ P. Lambertiana, 
P. flexilb^ and P. deflexa. 

1301. In the section Pmasier, the scales are thickened at the apex, 
and often bear a point or hook. They embrace by far the greater 
number of species, which may be enumerated as follows — the num- 
ber of leaves in a group being prefixed to each : 



3 to 5. Pinns Parryana — Vurry's Pine. 

3. " edalis — Piiion or Nut Pine. 

1 or 2. '' monophylla — One leaved Pine. 

5. '* Balfouriana — Balfour's Pine. 

" " var. aristata — bristled var. 

2. " resinosa — Red or Norway Pine. 
5. " Torreijana — Torrey's Pine. 

5. '' Arizonica — Arizona Pine. 

3. '* ponderosa — Western Yellow Pine. 
" '' var. Jeffreyi. 

" " var. scopulorum. 

3. " Chihuahuana, 

2. " contorta — Twisted-branch Pine. 
" *' var. Murray ana. 

3. ** Sahiniana —Havd-wwt Pine, or Digger-Pine. 
3. ** Coulteri — Coulter's Pine. 

3. " inslgnis — Monterey Pine. 

3. " tubercidata. 

3. " tceda — Old-field, or Loblolly Pine. 

3. *' rigida — Pitch Pine. 

" " var. serotiiia — Pond Pine. 

2. '* inops — Spruce, or Jersey Pine. 

'' " var. clausa, 

2. '* pungens — Prickly Pine. 

2. *' muricata. 

2. *' mitis — Short-leaved Yellow Pine. 

2. *' glabra — Spruce Pine. 

2. *' Banksiana — Gray, or Scrub Pine. 

3 to 5. *' australis — Long-leaved Pine. 

2 to 3. '' Elliottll—" Old-field," or Elliott's Pine. 

1302. The Wuite Pine (Plnus strobus). This is the most valu- 
able of all the native pines of the Atlantic States, and the one that 



The Pines. 



3ig 



has furaished by far the greatest amount of lumber and timber for 
domestic use and the foreign trade. It is sometimes known in Eng- 
land as the " Weymouth Pine," and by the French as ''Pin du 
Lord," from Lord AVey mouth, an English nobleman, whose name 
is associated with the early seltlement of New England. 




154. Pinus strobus. The White Pine : Cone and Leaves. 

1303. The great bodies of this timber, when lumbering began, 
were found around the upper waters of the rivers in Maine, in 
Northern New Hampshire, in Northern and Southwestern New 
York, in Central and Northwestern Pennsylvania, in Central Michi- 
gan, and along both sides, but not the northern part of the lower 
peninsula, in the upper peninsula of that State, in Northern Wis- 



320 The Pines. 

consin find in Eastern Minnesota. This species extends alon::^ the 
mountains into the Southern States, and in Western North Carolina 
it grows to from 60 to 70 feet in height, but is not accessible to mar- 
kets, and is only of local use. This, and the red pine, in Canada, 
do not extend miicli north of a line running from north shore of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, at first S. W. and then N. "W., passing a 
little north of Lake Nipigon, north of Lake Superior. South of 
the St. Lawrence the pine has been mostly worked out in Canada, 
and the supplies now come from the upper waters of the St. Maurice 
and the rivers flowing southward into the Ottawa. 

1304. The white pine thrives best in a light sand, with a clay 
subsoil, and it prefers plains and broad river valleys to higher lands. 
It can scarcely be made to grow upon a limestone soil, nnd has not 
answered expectations in some j^laces abroad. In the plantation of 
M. Vilmorin, at Barres, France, it was found that *' the wood is 
soft, light and worthless, even for firewood. It is of no use but for 
ornament. Although it grows well with its own kind, it has no 
chances when planted with other species." 

1305. According to Lorentz & Parade,^ it is found to succeed in 
France, excepting in the south, and it has a very rapid growth ; 
but time had not yet been allowed for it to ripen, and the best qual- 
ity of wood had not yet been produced. 

1306. Western White Pine (Pinus monticola). This pine oc- 
curs in Oregon and Washington Territory, growing from 7,000 to 
10,000 feet above tide, and to a height of 60 to 70 feet, with a 
diameter of three feet. It is the western representative of the com- 
mon white pine of the Atlantic States, which it most resembles in 
habit of growth and texture of wood, but it is not equal to it in 
quality. In British Columbia this is known as " white pine," and it 
is common in the interior of Vancouver Island, and along the 
Southern Coast Range. The Indians collect the seeds of this tree 
for food. 

1307. The Sugar Pine (Pinus Lamhertiana). This is the most 
magnificent of pines in dimension, and among the choicest in the 
quality of its wood. It occurs between the Rocky Mountains and 
the Pacific, and from Mexico to near the Columbia River, growing 

^Culture cles Bois, 5th ed., p. 158. 



The Pines. 



321 




to great perfection upon the slopes of the Sierras and the transverse 
ranges that connect the Cascade and 
Coast Ranges. It does not generally 
form separate forests, but towers here 
and there above other and more com- 
mon kinds, Avith a symmetry and vigor 
that has been admired by all travelers. 
It grows to 300 feet in height and 20 
feet in diameter, although the more 
common sizes are 200 and 10 feet re- 
spectively. The branches appear thin 
and sparse, as compared with tlie 
trunk. The leaves are of a dark blue- 
green. The cones are from 12 to 18 
inches long, and proportioned as in our 
cut (p. 322). The lumber much resem- 
bles the best of white pine. The resin- 
ous exudation from partly-burned 
trees has a sweetish taste, like manna, 155. Scale aiid seeds of the Sugar 

„ 1 • 1 1 • • Pine of the natural size, 

and irom this the tree derives its name. 

1308. The lumber is a favorite material for doors, sash, and 
blinds, and for finishing-lumber generally. The species is named 
from Aylmer Bourke Lambert, an English botanist, who died in 
1842. He was- the author of sev^eral works of merit, and among 
them one on the pines. The last edition of the latter, in three 
volumes, atlas folio (1828-37), ranks among the most costly and 
elaborate botanical publications ever issued. His herbarium, which 
was considered among the best of its kind in Europe, he bequeathed 
to the British Museum. 

1309. The Flexible Pine (Pinus flexilk). This is a middle- 
sized tree, with w^arty horizontal branches, found growing in the 
Rocky Mountains and from New Mexico to Washington Territory. 
It is the prevailing pine east of the Humboldt Mountains, in Ne- 
vada, and is frequent in the Wahsatch and Unita Mountains, from 
6,500 to 11,000 feet above tide. It grows to a great age, and when 
from 250 to 500 years old, becomes 2 to 3 feet in diameter, and 
rarely over 50 feet in height. It is coarse, cross-grained, and too 
knotty for good lumber. The wood is pliable, and from this quality 



322 



The Pines. 




156, Pinus Lamherfinna: The Siigrar Pine, Cone, and 

Leaves, on a reduced scale. 



the common name is 
given. In British Co- 
lumbia it is known as 
the " White Pine," or 
"White-barked Pine," 
and the seeds are col- 
lected by the Indians 
for food. A variety, 
albicaidis, ( described 
by Professor Newber- 
ry as the Pinus cem- 
broides), grows on the 
Cascade Mountains, 
up to the timber-line, 
with a height of fifty 
feet and a diameter 
of two feet. The bark 
is thin, milk-white, 
and in appearance 
something like that 
of white oak. The 
wood is tough, and 
the leaves near the 
ends of the branches. 

1310. The Pinus 
reflexa grows on the 
Mexican border, in 
Arizona, and is nearly 
related to the preced- 
ing species. 

1311. The Pinus 
Parryana is a small 
tree, growing upon 
the Mexican border, 
in California and Ar- 
izona, bearing edible 
seeds. It is closely 
related to the follow- 
ing species: 



The Pines, 823 

1312. The Pinoij^" Pine {Pinu8 edulls). This abounds in the 
mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, occupying the lower ridges 
and the swells of land on the "divides" between the headwaters of 
these regions. The seeds are sweetish and edible, when roasted, nnd 
are kept for sale in the markets. The tree itself is of a crabbed 
shrubby growth, spreading out like an old neglected apple tree, 
and usually does not grow more than 25 to SO feet high. The 
wood is excellent for fuel, but too small and poor for lumber or 
other uses. 

1318. One-Leaved Pine (Pimis monophylla). This occurs as a 
low tree, from 20 to 25 feet high, with an open rigid habit, and 
branches spreading or sub-deflexed. It grows from the eastern 
slope of the Sierras, and from thence eastward, in Nevada, Ar- 
izona, and Utah. It also occurs in Oregon, at an elevation of 
from 4,500 to 5,000 feet above tide. It has large edible seeds, 
and is nearly allied to the piiion pine of Southern Colorado and 
New Mexico. From the Sierras to the Wahsatch, this pine occurs 
scattered over the dry slopes, and seldom more than 15 feet in 
height. 

1314. Pinus Balfouriana, This is a middle-sized tree, growing 
in Northern California and on the summits of the mountains east 
of the Humboldt range, in Nevada. 

1315. The Norway or Red Pine (Pinus resinosa). This is a 
northern species, growing in Canada and New Brunswick, and along 
the northern border of the United States, from Maine to Minnesota. 
It does not generally form large bodies of timber, but occurs in de- 
tached clumps. The wood is coarser than that of the white pine, 
but is stronger, and much used for bridges and other timbers, where 
strength and elasticity are required. It grows to the height of sixty 
to seventy feet. 

1316. The Plnvs Torreyana is a small tree on the southern 
coast of California, bearing large, thick, heavy cones with edible 
seeds. 

1317. The Pinus Arizonica grows on the Santa Pita Mountains in 
Arizona, and is nearly related to the following species : 

1318. The Heavy or Western Yellow^ Pine (Pinus ponderosa). 
This species is widely scattered throughout the Rocky Mountain 
region, in the Western Territories, and the Pacific States. It 



324 



The Pines, 



covers large areas as 
the only tree, and it 
is mixed in places 
with the sugar and 
other jHues. It grows 
to magnificent dimen- 
sions, and thrives 
upon arid mountain 
slopes, and to an 
elevation of 11,000 
feet, or quite up to 
the " timber-line." 
It is found from 5 to 
8 feet, and even 12 
feet in diameter, and 
from 200 to 250 feet 
high, in favored lo- 
calities. The leaves 
of this species are of 
a dark yellowish 
green, differing in 
this from the deep 
blue-green of the su- 
gar pine, and the light 
blue-green of Sabine's pine, with which it is often associated. Tlie bark 
is of a light red, but yellow^ish brown wdthin, and divided into large 
plates, four, six, or eight inches in breadth, and flat and smooth, 
affording a characteristic appearance to the trunk of the tree at a 
considerable distance. 

1319. The timber of the yellow pine is heavy and highly resinous, 
but is not as strong as in some other conifers. In recent years it 
has been used in immense quantities for railroad ties, and it is also 
much used for mining timbers. The grain is often twisted, and 
sometimes into the closest spiral. 

1320. In general habit it most resembles the pitch pine (P. r'lglda) 
of the Atlantic States, but it grows immensely larger, the bark is 
smoother, and the wood less resinous. Tlie latter quality appears 
to depend upon the soil and exposure, and differs considerably in 
different places. 




157. Cone, Scales, and Leaves of the Ptr??<sponder- 
osa, of two-tnirds the Natural Size. 



The Pines. 



325 



1321. This pine is known in British Columbia as the " Yellow 
Pine," ' ' Red Pine," and * ' Pitch Pine," and in that Province it is found 
only in the central dry region, between the Coast Ranges and Selkirk 
and Gold Ranges, northward, from 49° to 51°, and sparingly on the 
east side of the Rocky Mountains. It is there sawn into lumber, 
but is rather brittle, and not durable where exposed to the weather. 
In that Province it does not generally exceed four feet in diameter, 
and at 3,000 feet above tide, it is replaced by the Douglas fir and 
twisted-branch pine. 

1322.* The Tw^STED-BRANCH Pine l^Piniis contorta). This tree is 
found in the region of the Rocky Mountains, and in the Pacific 
States, growing to a moderate 
sized tree, from 50 to 60 feet 
in height, and a foot in diam- 
eter at a yard from the ground. 
It derives its name from the 
curving downward and in- 
Avard of the dead branches in 
the lower part, as the foliage 
drops off". This peculiarity is 
noticed to less extent in other 
pines. The cones remain on 
for several years, which gives 
the tree a peculiar appear- 
ance. In the Cascade Moun- 
tains it forms large forests in 
the lower valleys, and it 
thrives best in moist valleys 
and plains, although found 
at 6,000 feet above tide. It much resembles the Plnus inops, or 
spruce-pine of New Jersey and Maryland, but is more slender, and 
grows to a larger size. It is sometimes locally known as the " Red 
Pine." 

1323. The " Western Scrub-Pine," '' Bull-Pine," or " Black-Pine," 
as this is variously called in British America, extends from the coast 
to the Rocky INIountains, forming a characteristic tree over the 
northern part of the interior plateau, and densely covering large 
areas. On the coast it grows small and gnarled, upon the dunes 
and exposed rocky coast. In the interior it is found from CO to 100 




158. Cone, Leaves, Scales, and Seed of the 
Pi nus contorta, of two-tliirds the Natural 

Size. 



326 The Pines. 

feet in height, but usually not more than two feet in diameter. In 
Alaska it extends as far as the Yokun river, end over large areas in- 
to the Peace-river region. The "wood is seldom used for timber, ow- 
ing to its small size, but is white and fairly durable. The cambium 
layer contains much sugar, is eaten by the Indians in the spring, 
and in some instances large quantities of it are collected and dried 
for winter use.^ 

1324. The Hard-nut Pine or Digger-Pine (P'uius Sabhiiana). 
This pine so notable on account of the great size and solidity of its 
cones, does not form dense forests, but is widely disseminated in 
California and Oregon, being generally scattered sparsely over the 
most rocky surfaces not occupied by other trees. The seeds afford 
subsistence to the Indians in many places. 

1325. Dr. Douglas describes this tree as of Alpine habit, but 
Prof. Newberry's observations disprove this.^ The tree spreads out 
more like an oak or a maple than a conifer as it usually grows ; its 
foliage is a pale bluish-green, and thin, and the whole aspect of the 
tree is light and airy. The author last quoted describes the cones as 
solitary, ovid, sometimes as large as one's head, and very ponderous, 
being covered with spurs or strong curved spires an incli or more 
long, of which the broad bases cover all the exposed portion of the 
scales. The seeds are as large as beans, and very palatable, having, 
however, a slight terebinthine taste. The leaves are in threes, from 
eight to ten inches long. The timber is of little value, on ac- 
count of its irregular and spreading form. 

132G. The Plniis Coulteri much resembles the above, and has a 
very thick, rough, blackish bark. The leaves are in threes, six to 
ten inches long, stiff, erect, and crowded at the ends of the branches. 
Its cones are as large, but the seeds are smaller. They are both 
found on the Coast Range, where we also find two unimportant spe- 
cies, the P. tuberculata and P. muricata. 

1327. The Monterey Pine (Pinus insignis), grows upon a 
very restricted area, to the height of 80 to 100 feet, in the vicinity 
of Monterey. Its cones are one-sided and in clusters, of ratiier 
large size ; but it is too limited in amount to be of interest as a tim- 
ber tree. 

1328. Loblolly, or Old-field Pine (Pinus tceda). This pine 

^G. M. Dawso7i\s '■'■Trees of Briiish Columbia,'' p, 8. 
^Piicific Railway Kayloj'atio)^, Vol. VI., Part iii., p. 40. 



The Pines. 



327 




159. Pinus Sahi:-;iana.—Q,onQ one-third the Natural Size; Leaves and Seed of I^atural 

Size. 



328 The Pines. 

derives its common name from coming up spontaneously in aban- 
doned fields. It grows from 50 to 70 feet in height, with a diame- 
er of two to three feet, and a spreading top. The wood is sappy 
and coarse, liable to warp and slirink, and is not durable on expo- 
sure. It is sometimes tapped for turpentine, but yields less than the 
long-leaved pine. 

1329. Varieties are known in North Carolina as " Swamp Pine," 
" Slash Pine," and about Wilmington as the " Rosemary Pine." In 
the West-Roanoke Swamps, it has been found 5 feet in diameter, 
and 150 to 170 feet in height. 

1330. Pjtch Pine {Plmis rlgida). This pine grows to great ad- 
vantage upon saudy soils in New England and New York, and ex- 
tends into the Western and Southern States. It has been seen in 
Maine and Massachusetts, four to five feet in diameter and 100 feet 
hiffh, but its usual size is from 40 to 50 feet and its diameter from 
one to two feet. It grows very rapidly in early life, and on account 
of its deeply penetrating roots it is difficult to plant, and is usually 
sow^n iu the place Avhere it is to grow. It has been found peculiarly 
well adapted to the sandy soil upon Cape Cod, and in other light 
soils near the sea coast. 

1331. The custom of planting there is as follows: In the latter 
part of October the cones are gathered, put up in boxes or barrels, 
and kept in a cool place. Before spiring they will have mostly 
opened, and the seeds will readily come out. Sometimes they are 
heated a little, but this is liable to injure the vitality of the seed. 
From a half to three-fourths of a pound will plant an acre of land, 
and the seed is worth from $1.25 to $1.50 j)er pound. A bushel of 
cones will produce about a pound of seed. 

1332. They may be planted at any time of the year, but best in 
early spring, as soon as the frost is out of tlie ground. The custom 
generally is, to run a series of furrows 5 or 6 feet apart over the 
laud, but some plant in rows only 4 feet apart, while others allow a 
space of 8 to 10 feet. The seeds are dropped in by hand, three or 
four in a place, and about three feet apart, and are very slightly 
covered with a hoe. Sometimes a seed-planter is used, and at much 
less cost of labor, with good success. A boy should follow to cover 
up the seeds not covered. 

1333. The cost of planting varies from $3 to $5 per acre. Gen- 
erally no further care is taken, the trees coming up of themselves. 



The Pines. 329 

They bear fruit early aud show a tendency to self seeding. Upon 
Nantucket, we have noticed that they spread most toward the east 
or southeast under the effects of prevailing winds, and this Avill 
generally be found the case elsewhere. These plantations are liable 
to suffer from fire, and occasionally from insect lavages. 

1334. In Virginia this species is sometimes called the "Black 
Pine." It grows from 30 to 50 feet in height. The wood of the 
pitch pine, is coarse, resinous, and heavy, and generally very 
knotty. It is sometimes used in making tar, but is not of value 
in commerce, although from its resinous j^roperties it makes an ex- 
cellent firewood. 

1335. The variety serotlna, known as "Pond Pine," is a southern 
species, growing in swamps to a height of 40 to 50 feet. It has 
sometimes been used for the masts of small vessels. 

1336. Spruce, or Jersey-Pine (Plnus inops). This pine, in 
New Jersey, Maryland, and southward to Florida, shows a tentiency 
to spread and occupy vacant lands. It is variously known as " Ce- 
dar-Pine," " River-Pine," and " Scrub Pine," and grows to from 20 
to 40 feet in height and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter. It is 
chiefly valuable for firewood. 

1337. Prickly Pine (P'nius j)wigens). This is sometimes called 
the " Table-Mountain Pine." It grows from Pennsylvania south- 
ward, but to best advantage in North Carolina. It is common on 
the eastern spurs of the Blue Ridge, but not further west. It 
grows from 30 to 50 feet in height, and from 12 to 20 inches in di- 
ameter. 

1338. Short-Leaved Yellow Pine (Pinus mitis). This pine is 
widely diffused, but grows to best size and quality in the South- 
western and Southern States, where it is used for lumber. It usually 
grows from 40 to 60 feet in height, and from 15 inches to 2 feet in 
diameter. The heart- wood is fine grained, but moderately resinous, 
but the sap-wood is perishable. 

1339. The Spruce-Pine (Plnus glabra^ is a southern species, 
found in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 

1340. Gray or Scrub-Pine : Bank's Pine (Plnus Bankslana). 
This is a northern species, occurring from Maine westward to North- 
ern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan. It is found in 
Canada and far northward in British Ainerica, growing from fifteen 
to thirty feet in height, but nowhere of size to make it suitable for 



330 Th^ Pines. 

lumber. Its leaves are in pairs, short and rigid, and its cones are 
slightly curved and with pointless scales. They sometimes remain 
on for many years. 

1341. The Long-Leaved or Southern Yellow Pine (Pinm 
austral'is). This is by fur the most important of the southern pines, 
and extends from Virginia around into Texas. It usually grows to 
the height of 60 to 70 feet, with a diameter of 15 to 20 inches, but 
iu favorable conditions to a larger size. In richer soils it is less 
resinous, and from a reddish tinge to the wood is called ** Red Pine." 
A tree with a small top is said to indicate the best heart-wood. 
This species furnishes most of the resinous products of the Southern 
States, as already described. [§ 795.] 

1342. As a timber, it is scarcely rivaled by any of the pines for 
durability and strength, and large quantities are exported annually 
to f)rei2:n markets and to the Northern States. Trees that have 
been worked for turpentine are less valued as timber, and such are 
sometimes excluded in contracts for supplies. 

1343. The long-leaved pine was noticed by Michaux as a poor 
seeder, and in unfruitful years a cone can not be found within hun- 
dreds of miles. A correspondent remarks: "According to my ob- 
servation, these unfruitful years are far more common than the 
fruitful ones. In its struggle for existence iu our days, the odds of 
a survival of its kind among tlic arborescent vegetation that disputes 
its ground are greatly against it. Taken from the flat moist lands, 
it is replaced almost exclusively by the Pond and Old-field Pine ; the 
hilly, broken, dry upland, denuded of the grand old pine forest, is 
with surprising rapidity covered Ity a dense and shrubby growth of 
black-jack, turkey-oak, scarlet and upland oak, above which seldom 
a young pine raises its head, crowned with its large white-fringed 
terminal bud. 

1344. *' Full of resinous juices through a 1 stages of its life, the 
young trees are not as able to withstand the raging fires that an- 
nually devastate the woods as the less resinous species and the de- 
ciduous-leaved trees ; besides that, being of much slower growth, 
this noble tree is doomed to extinction, if not protected by man. 
On tracts sheltered from the invasion of fire, groves of young trees 
from 15 to 25 feet can be observed around Mobile, testifying that 
its existence for the future can in some measure be secured, if pro- 



The Pines. 



331 



tected from these destructive influences, unnecessarily caused 
by man." ^ 

1345. Elliott's Pine (Piniis ElUottii). This is a southern-coast 
pine, growing in light dam]) sandy soils, along marshes, and near 
the mouths of rivers, never far inland, and showing a tendency to 
form a second growth where other timber has been cut away. It 
generally bears fruit every year, while the long- leaved and other 
pines in that region generally are fertile on alternate years. It 
blossoms early, and has a dense heavy head, dark foliage, and larger 
and heavier branches than most other southern pines. The leaves 
are generally in threes. The timber is heavy, very tough, and more 
resinous than that of the long-leaved pine. It grows rapidly while 
young, and from the facility with which it may be propagated, it 
may become an important 



tree in forest-culture in the 
future. 

1346. This has formerly 
been considered a variety 
of the Old-field Pine (P. 
taeda), but it appears to 
present distinct specific 
characters, that have led 
Dr. Engclmann to recently 
describe it as a se]3arate 
species. 

1347. Scotch Pine (Pl- 
nus sijlvestrls). This foreign 
species is here mentioned, 
because it has been intro- 
duced for cultivation, and 
has been found exceedingly 
well adapted to certain light 
sandy soils, where it grows 
with great luxuriance. It 
is the principal pine of Cen- 
tral and Northern Europe, 
and is spread overall North- 







160. 



Finns sylvestri-t: Scotch Pine— Leaves arid 
Blossoms. 



^Di-. Charles Mohr. Forestry Report, ii., 36. 



332 The Spruces. 

eru Asia, wherever pines grow. It lias been found to grow very 
well in Iowa, and has been planted with good success upon Cape 
Cod, in Massachusetts. Between these regions it can be planted 
almost anywhere, if the soil is sandy and somewhat fertile. 

1348. The Scotch pine comes to maturity and greatest value in 
Northern Europe in 60 to 80 years ; after which its growth in cubic 
contents is slow. At Bahiioral, Scotland, a crop, under favorable 
conditions, at 60 years, averaged 60 cubic feet to a tree, and at 200 
years 25 cubic feet, and 90 to 100 trees to the acre. The choicest 
portions of the forest yielded 30 to 35 feet to the tree, and 120 to 
130 trees to the acre. The height ranged from 70 to 80 feet. On 
moor-pan soil, at 60 years, they yielded but 8 cubic feet each, and 
at 100 years but 10 cubic feet. In Prussia this tree constitutes 
over half of the public forests. In Europe it is known under a 
great variety of names, as " Riga Pine," " Haguenau Pine," etc., 
and it differs very greatly under cultivation, as well in the form and 
habit of its growth as in the quality of its wood, as variously modi- 
fied by climate, soil, and other influences. 

The Spruces. (Genus Picea.) 

1349. Of this genus there are about a dozen species, of which two 
are found in Europe, five in Asia, and five in North America. Of 
the latter, two are found on the eastern and three on the western 
side. The spruces have pendulous cones, with the bracts shorter 
than the scales, and both persistent. The cones ripen in the fall of 
the same year that they form, but do not open to disperse their seeds 
till the spring following. The engraving (page 333) represents 
a twig of the common European spruce, now widely introduced as 
an ornamental tree, and when young quite a beautiful object, the 
branches coming out symmetrically from the ground upward, and 
the whole taking a dense and compact pyramidal form. It does 
not grow with us to as great a size or age as in Northern Europe, 
nor is it an object inviting to notice for forest culture, but exceed- 
ingly well adapted to the formation of screens and wind-breaks. 

1350. The two eastern species in the United States are the Plcea 
alba, or "White Spruce, and the P. nigra, or Black Spruce. They 
are found most common along the northern border of the XTnited 
States, from Maine to Northern ]\finnesota. The former extends 
further northward, being found as an important timber tree only in 



The Spruces. 



333 



the northern part of Maine and further north in Canada. The latter 
forms extensive forests in Northern New England and New York, 
and both extend along the mountains southward to North Carolina, 
but do not occur as important timber trees in that region. 




161. Picea excelsa: Commo.n European or Norway Spruce, Leaves, 
Blossoms, and a False Cone formed from Insect Injuries. 

1351. The wood of both the white and the black spruce is white, 
strong, and elastic, but rather coarse-grained. It is much prized for 
flooring, and for building-timber, but is not durable when exposed 
to the weather, excepting when laid with the grain of the wood 
vertical. Shingles made of spruce are sometimes very good, but are 
inferior to those of white pine, cypress, cedar, red-wood, and manyi 
other kinds. 

1352. From its lightness and strength, this wood is valued for 
yard-arms and small masts in vessels. The roots and base of the 
trunk are used for knees for canal- boats, barges, etc. The spruce 
best adapted for working, and the strongest, most elastic, and most 
durable, comes from elevated regions, a dry soil, and a southern ex- 



334 The Spruces, 

posure. It is from such localities that the best material for sound- 
ing-boards of pianos is derived, and it would be useless to seek this 
wood of best quality for this use in trees grown upon low swampy 
grounds. When sawn for this purpose, the logs are first quartered, 
and then sawn as near as may be vertically to the lines of growth. 

1353. The black spruce, when grown in dense masses, makes a 
tall and slender tree, very strong and elastic, and well suited for 
poles for scaffolding, flag-staffs, and the like, and for rafters and 
sleepers in buildings. In dry situations, as hewn timber, it is strong 
and durable, but light, and for this reason easier to place than most 
of the hard-woods, while it surpasses the most of them in strength. 

1354. The growth of the spruce is remarkably rapid, and under 
careful management it is much less liable to be run out by other trees 
than most other species. A spruce forest carefully protected against 
fires, and the cutting limited to trees that are large enough for saw- 
ing into boards, may be cut over at intervals of ten or fifteen years 
to great profit. The young shoots of the spruce are used in mak- 
ing beer; an essential oil is distilled from the leaves, and a gum 
having a market value exudes from the trunk. 

1355. Engelmann's Spruce (Picea Engelmannii). This much 
resembles the black spruce of the Northern States and Canada, but 
grows to greater size. It is found upon the interior plateau from 
British Columbia southward to California, and in Montana and New 
lilcxico. Its northern and north-eastern limits are not definitely as- 
certained. It has been found on Peace river in British America. 
It forms a superior timber, and is very durable. 

1356. This is a tall pyramidal tree, with a thin scaly bark of a 
reddish or purplish brown color, and white soft wood. East of the 
Humboldt Mountains, in Nevada, and on the Wahsatch and Unita 
Mountains, it grows to an elevation of 8,000 to 10,000 feet. In 
these regions it is known as the " White Pine." 

1357. The Blue HocKY-MouNTAiN Spruce (Plceajnmgens). This 
is a Rocky Mountain species, extending from New Mexico through 
Colorado and Utah to Idaho and Oregon. It grows to a large size, 
and at elevations of 7,000 to 10,000 feet above tide. This is found 
to be well adapted to the Northern and New England States, being 
hardy, of rapid growth and of remarkable beauty of foliage, the 
color being a bluish green. It has long been known under the 
name of the Abies, or Plcea Ilenzlesii, but the " Menzies Spruce" of 



The Spruces: The Hemlocks 



335 



the coast belongs to the following species, and is now known under 
the name by which it was described at an earlier period : 

1358. The Menzies Spruce (Picea Sitchensis) is found from Men- 
docino Co., California, to Alaska, and is strictly a coast species. It 
seldom grows at an elevation of 
more than 500 feet, but in Ore- 
gon, Washington Territory, and 
British Columbia, it attains a 
large size, being sometimes 150 
to 200 feet in height, with a di- 
ameter of six to nine feet. It is 
exported as a timber, and is 
coarse but strong. It grows to 
best advantage on a damp sandy 
soil. The common name is given 
in honor of Dr. Archibald iVIen- 
zies, wlio Avas surgeon and botan- 
ist in Vancouver's exploring ex- 
pedition, about the end of the 
last century, and died in 1842. 




1G2. Lojives and Cone of the ^^enzie^ 
Spruce, of two-tliirds the Katurul 
Size. 



The Hemlocks. (Genus Tsiiga.) 
1359. There have usually been described under the genus Abies, 
but are now classified separately. The cones are usually small and 
pendant at the ends of the twigs, the bracts shorter than the scales, 
and both remain adherent to the axis. The leaves arc flat or ano-jed, 
in two rows, and with a very short petiole. There are five species, 
of which one is found in Asia, and four in North America. Of the 
latter, two are found on the eastern and two on the western side. 

13G0. The Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis). This is one of the 
most widely difl^used and most useful of the conifers in the Northern 
States, extending from Maine to Wisconsin, and along the Alle- 
ghenics southward to North Carolina. It is abundant in New Bruns- 
wick, and in Ontario and Quebec. In North Carolina, where it oc- 
curs on the borders of mountain ravines and in cold swamps, it is 
known as "Spruce-Pine." It is sometimes called the "Hemlock- 
Spruce," and by the French of Canada " Peruche." 

1361. In the Northern States, and especially in New York and 
Pennsylvania, its bark is used to an immense extent for the tanning 



336 



The Hemlocks. 



of sole-leather, and in some regions where the trees have been cut 
and peeled for their bark, the lumber is still allowed to rot upon the 
ground. 

1362. It sometimes occurs of immense size, and in considerable 
bodies by itself, but is very often intermixed with deciduous kinds. 
The wood of the hemlock is coarse, but strong, and is largely used 
in the form of planks and scantling for building purposes, bridges, 
and the like, or as boards for fences, roof-boards, the siding of barns 
and other coarse purposes. When the grain is placed vertical, it 
endures exposure to the weather for a long period. The young wood 
is much used for railway ties, but is not as durable as many other 
kinds. 

1363. This is one of the most beautiful of our native species, 
when planted in parks among deciduous kinds, or singly, and is less 
liable to injury from insects than the spruces and the pines. 

1364. The Tsuga Caroliniana is a southern species, occurring on 
the mountains of Western North Carolina, and much resembling 
the one above described. 

1365. The Tsuga Pattoniana grows in the upper timber-region of 
the Sierras, from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above tide, but at this ele- 
vation it is only a shrub. In lower localities it is found from 100 

to 150 feet high, and from 2 to 4 




feet 



diameter. It 



m diameter. it is a large, 
graceful, and slender tree, with bright 
green foliage, and purple cones, from 
an inch and a half to two inches in 
length. It has formerly been known 
as the ^^ Abies Williamsoniana" 

1366. The Ohegon Hemlock 
(Tsuga Mertcnsiand) . This is a tree 
found native u23on the Pacific Coast 
from California to Alaska, being often 
found from 100 to 200 feet high, and 6 
to 8 feet in diameter. The wood is 
finer than our common hemlock, and 
the bark is more red, and is used for 
tanuino; purposes. It does not ex- 

103. View of the Side aui xia:>e ot an & r r 

old (One of Wiiiiainso I's Spruce, tend bevoud the rcgiou of abundant 

with Soiil(^ Se 'ds, and Leaf, of two- . p n 
thirds the Natural yize. rainfall. 



The Douglas Fir. 



337 



The Douglas Fir. (Pseudotsiiga Douglasii.y 

1367. This is incomparably the finest of the firs, surpassing them 
all in size, and equaling the best in value 
as a timber tree. It extends from Mex- 
ico, New Mexico, and Colorado, through 
the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast, 
occurring in Oregon to the enormous size 
of 200 to 300 feet in height, and from 
15 to 20 feet in diameter. It is more 
commonly about 150 feet high, and from 
4 to 8 feet in diameter. 

1368. This tree has a tall pyramidal 
growth, with horizontal and drooping 
branches. The bark is rather thin, of an 
ash or reddish color, and the wood is 
coarse-grained, but tough and hard. It 
extends northward into Alaska, and 
is largely developed in British Colum- 
bia. Professor Newberry in describing 

this tree as it grows in Oregon, 164. Cone and Loaves of th3 

Douglas Fir, of two-thirds 
»^V^' the JSalural Size. 

1369. '' The trees stand relatively as near each other, and the 
trunks are as tall and slender, as the canes in a canebrake. In this 
case, the foliage is confined to the tuft at the top of the tree, the 
trunk forming a cylindrical column as straight as an arrow, and 
almost without branches for two hundred feet. The amount of 
timber on an acre of this forest very much exceeds that on a simi- 
lar area in the tropics or in any part of the world I have visited." 

1370. The Douglas fir, in British Columbia, forms the principal 
lumber yet exported from that Province. It forms dark and dense 
forests of considerable extent, the wood being, for the most part, 
of excellent quality for ship-building, but varying considerably in 
strength and texture, according to the conditions under which it 

^ Commonly described as the '^Abies Douglnsii.^' and known by a great va- 
riety of common names, such as '" Red " or " Black " Fir, " Red " or " Black " 
Sprjce, "Hemlock," '-Oregon Pine," "Western Pitch Pine," etc. In the 
Uinto Mountains, it is known as the "Bear River Pine," or "Swamp Pine." 
22 




338 The Douglas Fir: The Firs, Proper. 

has grown. It is shipped for masts and spars to Great Britain, 
South America, Australia, India, China, and the Sandwich Islands. 

1371. This tree is very accommodating as to soil, but prefers that 
which is deep and damp, with a stiff subsoil, provided that it is 
w'eil drained. It has been introduced into Scotland with much 
success, and is there a favorite tree for planting, both for ornament 
and for timber. It is found to withstand the drouth better than most 
conifers, while it equals or surpasses most of them in growth. It 
was first introduced into that country in 1826, and a tree planted 
the next year is now 100 feet or more in height, and in 1873 had a 
girth of 9 feet 7 inches at 3 feet from the ground. 

1372. It is found, from observation, that in the colony of Victo- 
ria, this tree will not flourish in exposed situations or near the sea, 
but it is admirably adapted to form large bodies of forests in Alpine 
glens, and in the cooler climate of the mountain regions. 

1373. The specific name of this splendid tree was given by Pro- 
fessor Lindley in honor of Dr. David Douglas, who was sent by the 
Horticultual Society of London, in 1825, to study the flora and 
collect seeds and specimens upon the Pacific Coast. He returned 
in 1S27, and in a subsequent journey lost his life, by an accident, 
in the Sandwich Islands, in July, 1834. 

The Fiks. (Genus Abies.) 

1374. Of these there are about eighteen species, of which eight 
are found in the United States — two in the Atlantic States, and the 
remainder among the Pocky MountaiiiS and upon the Pacific Coast. 
The firs have the bracts of the cones longer than the scales — some- 
times conspicuously long, and when ripe they fall to pieces. The 
cones are erect. The leaves are in tw^o ranks on the twigs, and rel- 
atively short and rigid. The details of infliirescence in this genus, 
as they are found in the silver fir, will be seen upon a subsequent 
page. 

1375. The Balsam Fir of North Carolina (Abies Fraserii), 
much resembles the silver fir of Europe, but seldom grows more 
than 40 feet high and 12 to 15 inches in diameter. It is found on 
the western mountains over 4,000 feet above tide, sometimes form- 
ing forests of itself, and giving name, from its dark foliage, to the 
"Black Mountains." 

1376. The Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea). This is common in 



The FirSy Proper, 339 

Canada and in swamps and damp soils in the Northern States, ex- 
tending southward into Virginia, and westward beyond the Missis- 
sippi. It has a very symmetrical growth, and its regular conic 
form gives a characteristic aspect to the forests where it occurs. It 
grows to 50 or GO feet in height, and its wood is coarse a? d white, 
but not strong. It is used however for lumber, but should be 
protected from the weather. This tree grows well under cultivation 
in a humid soil, and it may be used with success, in wet place, in 
planting wind-breaks. The "Canada Balsam" of dru^-gists is ob- 
tained from blisters in the bark of this tree. 

1377. The Balsam Spruce (Abies subaljmia), much resembling 
the Northern Balsam Fir, grows in Colorado and northward into 
British North America, occurring on the highest mountains and 
quite up to the timber-lin.-. It grows to a tree two feet in diameter 
and a hundred feet or more in height, in sheltered places, but the 
wood is soft and poor. This species, in British Columbia, appears 
to take the place of the A. grandis in the region east of the Coast 
Eange. It extends into the Peace River district, and occurs in cold, 
damp situations in the country between Lesser Slave Lake and the 
Athabasca River. The tree often exceeds two feet in diameter, but 
the wood is said to be almost worthless. 

1378. Abies concolor. This is the *' White Balsam," or "White Fir," 
of South Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, and is found westward in 
tlie Sierras and northward to Southern Oregon. It grows at an el- 
evation of 3,000 to 8,000 feet, and to a height of 100 to 150 feet, 
and a diameter of two to four feet. It derives its common name 
from the light color of its foliage, both of the under and the upper 
sides of its leaves. 

1379. Red Fir (Abies magnified). This species grows on the high 
Sierras of California and northward, at an elevation of 7,000 to 
10,000 feet, and sometimes to a height of 200 feet and a diameter 
of eight to ten feet. The wood is of a reddish color, from whence 
its name, and it is strong and durable. This species bears larger 
cones than any other of the genus. 

1380. The Western Silver Fir (Abies amabilis). This tree 
occurs among the Cascade Mountains. It grows with remarkable 
symmetry of form, and in favorable situations, to more than a hun- 
dred feet in height, forming a slender spire of dark green, and when 
occurring with other kinds sometimes presenting groups of remarka- 



340 



The Firs, Proper. 




165. Cone and Leaves of the Abies amnbilis, 
of one-third the natural length 



ble beauty. Its range extends 
from Washington Territory to 
Wyoming and New Mexico. 

1381. The Noble Fir 
(Abies 7iobilis). In general 
aspect, this resembles the 
Western Silver Fir (A. ama- 
bilis), but the foliage is of 
lighter green, and the branch- 
es more rigid. It grows to a 
height of 200 feet, with a di- 
ameter of six to ten feet, and 
it has a thick cinnamon-col- 
ored bark, which is red on 
the inside. This tree is known 
also as the '* Red Fir," and 
forms forests in Northern 
California. It is found on 
Mount Shasta, at from 6,000 
to 8,000 feet above tide ; on 
the Cascade Mountains, and 
on the Columbia River. Its 
wood is said to be superior to 
that of any other of the firs. 

1382. The Western Bal- 
sam Fir (Abies grandis). This 
is a large tree, nearly resem- 
bling the Western Silver Fir. 
It occurs in Oregon and Cali- 
fornia, upon the Sierra Ne- 
vada and Cascade Mountains, 
along with the sugar and the 
yellow pines, which are at 
times scarcely superior to it 

in size. On the Columbia and the Willamette, it is known as the 
"White Spruce," to distinguish it from the Douglas Spruce. Most 
of the lumber exported from Oregon is from these two trees. This 
tree grows to the height of 200 to 300 feet, and a diameter of four 
to six feet. In British Columbia it is limited to the coast, and its 




166. Cone and Leaves of the Abies nobilis, of 
tAVO-thirds the natural size. 



The Firs, Proper, 



341 




107. Cone anrl Le<aves of the Abies qrajidis. of 
two-thirds the natural length. fPajje 340.] 



wood is soft, white, brittle, 
and not durable. The growth 
of this species is more rapid 
than that of most of tlie firs. 
It prefers a rich and somewhat 
humid soil, and river flats are 
particularly favorable to its 
success. It is not as liable to 
suffer from late spring frosts, 
as most other firs. 

1383. The Abies hracteata 
is a tall, slender, and strictly 
pyramidal tree, growing to 
the height of 100 to 150 feet 
and a diameter of two feet. 
It occurs on Santa Lucia 
Mountains; upon the Califor- 
nia coast, along a narrow belt, perhaps a hundred miles in length, and 
at an elevation of 3,000 feet and upwards above sea level. The long 
bracts of the cones give them a bristly appearance, and suggest the 
specific name. These bracts are, in fact, a modified form of leaves, 
and somewhat resemble them in appearance. * 

1384. We will conclude our notice of the firs by adding the most 
important of the European species, it being convenient, in connec- 
tion therewith, to present an engraving from Rossmassler, illustrating 
the inflorescence, germination, and foliage of the species. 

1385. The European 8ji.yer Fir (Abies jKctinata). This is au 
imp3rtant timber tree, and grows to a large size in the Pyrenees, the 
Cevennes, the Alps, the Jura, and the Vosges, and some fine forests 
are found in Northern Italy and in Normandy. The timber is softer 
aud less durable than that of the pine and larch, and it is much 
used for shingles, cabinet-work, boat-building, and constructions 
generally, and is not liable to warp or shrink. When young, the 
tree is very tender, and easily injured by frost, which it seldom es- 
capes many years together ; but when it gets larger it becomes 
hardy and thrives at high altitudes. It comes to a size profitable 
for working in about seventy years, but lives to twice this age. The 
Strasburg turpentine of druggists is obtained from this tree. The 



342 



The Silver Fir. 




108. Abies prefinafn: The Silver Fir. 1. A tun-, with stam.nate cat luns 2 Tl e pis 
tilale llowers. 3, 4. Scales of the pistilate llower, with the tu o s^^^^\^,^; ^J. , 
nute on the inner side. 5 (and the li.nre ^i'>"V^:'-/5;:,,^fi';';^,.^^; ^^.M.'>P"'if ^ 
the two sides, as shown in the preceding li-nres b. 7. i^^'^" " \^e ca .v.ns as a 
bud, and fully open, and of twice the natural size. 8 Autleis n •,.mified 
twice the natural size. 10. Transverse section oi the eat also ni-^^^^^^^^^ 
11. (;erm of a youn- plant. 12. Germ-bud of the latter, with the iLaves ic 
moved, greatly 'enlarged. 



The Larches. 343 

details of its inflorescence, etc., are shown in the accompanying en- 
graving. 

The Larch. (Genus Larix.) 

1386. Of this there are 8 species, native of the North Temper- 
ate and Arctic Zone of Europe, Asia, and America. We have 
three native species, of which one grows in Canada and the Atlantic 
States, and two upon the western coast. The larches have decidu- 
ous leaves, that are collected in fascicles of from ten to twenty in a 
group, and small cones, with the bracts usually shorter than the 
scales. The foliage takes a bright yellow color in autumn a little 
before the fall of the leaves. 

1387. The Tamarack (Larix Americana). This is in some 
regions called " Hackmatack," and in commerce in Maine and New 
Brunswick it is sometimes known as " Juniper." The tamarac 
grows in swamps in Canada and the Northern States, from Maine 
to Wisconsin. It can be cultivated in humid soils, but does not 
thrive well upon dry grounds. It grows to the height of thirty to 
forty feet, and comes to largest development in Canada. Exten- 
sive swamps are sometimes almost exclusively occupied by this tree. 

1388. The Western Larch (Larix occidentalis). This is a tall 
slender tree, with short, thick, and small branches, thin, light, and 
yellowish-green leaves. It grows to a hundred and fifty feet in 
height, with a diameter of two to three feet. It extends northward 
in British Columbia, in the valleys of the Selkirk and Gold Ranges, 
within the limits of abundant rain-fall. It is not foimd on the 
coast. The timber is said to be strong and durable, but coarse. 

1389. The Lirix LyaUH is a little known species, found growing 
at high elevations upon the Cascade Range in Oregon. 

1390. The European Larch (Larix Europed). This tree has 
been found in Scotland the most profitable that can be grown. Al- 
though not adapted to such valuable uses as the oak, it will mature 
two crops while the oak is bearing one. It comes to maturity there 
in about CO years, in which time it has eight or nine thinnings, 
at from 5 to 10 years. An acre has been known to yield over 
$2,464 at the end of 60 years, or over $40 a year above the cost of 
management. 

1391. In recent years it has suffered from a disease that has 
rendered success less certain, and led to the substitution of other 
species of conifers, and especially the Scotch pine (Piniis sylvestris), 



344 



The Larches. 



fir (Picea excelsa), and some of the California species, especially the 
Douglas fir. 

loy2. Experience in the North-western States has somewhat dis- 
appointed expectations with reference to the European larch ; not 
as to the rapidity of its growth, but as to the durability of its 
timber. As a general rule the solidity, strength, and durability 
of the wood in any given species, is in inverse proportion to the 




169. Larix Eur opea.— 'European Larch, Blossoms, Leaves, and Fruit. 

rapidity of its grown, and it is not nntil the light and porous sa[> 
wood has had an opportunity to change by time into the mature 
and more solid lieart-wood, that it acquires those qualities that give 
it greatest value. 

1393. It is not improbable that the larch of rapid growth might 
in time acquire these qualities of excellence, but it is hopeless to 



The, Larches. 345 

expect them at once. These considerations should in no way dis- 
courage from plantation, as the young wood, in dry situations, still 
has great value, and it may be found suited for some of the pro- 
cesses of injection that would give it durability in exposed places. 

1394. The larch in France, prospers most on northern or eastern 
slopes. At greater elevations it was found on southerly and west- 
erly aspects, but not of so good growth. 

1395. The larch at high elevations is more solid than on low lands, 
although the amount of ashes in the latter is greater. It requires 
more than double the amount of alkali and of phosphoric acid than 
the pine, and three times as much as the beech. 

1396. In planting the European larch, only such trees should be 
set out as have been once transplanted. Their growth the first 
year or two is very slow, and in exposed situations they are liable 
to suffer from the winds. As the leaves appear early, it must be 
planted as soon as the ground can be prepared, and great care 
should be taken to protect the roots from the air. They may be 
dipped to advantage in a mud composed of a rich mellow sr^il and 
water of about the thickness of white- wash. The tops should re- 
main dry, and the roots damp, till they are finally set. 

1397. Where the larch is cultivated in masses, and kept of one 
age, it is not injurious to pasture with cattle after a certain time. 
A woodland of this timber will in some regions pasture one cow to. 
a hectare (about 2 J acres) through the summer. In a genial soil 
and climate the larch is aggressive, and tends continually to spread 
over the neighboring fields, especially on the side opposite to that 
of the prevailing winds. From this tendency to seeding, it is 
easy to re-stock a forest, by leaving here and there a sufl^icient num- 
ber of seed-trees, and by raking the surface here and there so that 
the seeds can find fresh soil to sprout in. 

1398. It is sometimes tried in Europe to get a resinous product 
from the larch, but it leads to a very thin profit, at a great loss. 
The bark is in some countries used for tanning leather. 



346 



Tlantbuj in Kansas. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

TREE-PLANTING IN KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. 

1399. The Kansas State Horticultural Society began, in 1880, the 
publication of an annual Report upon Forestry, as an extract from 
Its general report for the preceding year. In the second of these 
there is given a summary of replies to circulars from its correspond- 
ents, in which they mention their preference for kinds of trees that 
have been cultivated with success. They may be condensed as fol- 
lows, but to save repetition they will be referred to by numbers, 
eorresponding with those in the following list : 

1400. Names of Trees that are successfully cultivated in Kansas. 





COMMON NAMES. 


BOTANICAL NAMES. 


1. 


Ailanthus. 


Ailanthus glandulosa. 


2. 


Ash- 


Fraxinus — 


3. 


Blue. 


quadrangidata. 


4. 


Green. 


viridis. 


5. 


White. 


Americana. 


6. 


Box Elder, or Ash-leaved 






Maple. 


JVegundo aceroides. 


7. 


C.italpa. 


Catalpa speciosa. 


8. 


Cherrv, wild. 


Praniis serotina. 


9. 


Chestnut. 


Castanea vesca, var. Americana. 


10. 


Coffee-bean. 


Gijmnocladus Canadensis. 


11. 


Cottonwood. 


Populus monilifera. 


12. 


Elm- 


Ulmus — • 


13. 


Red (Slippery Elm). 


fidva. 


14. 


White. 


Americana. 


15. 


Hackberry. 


Cdlis occidentalis. 


IG. 


Hickory. 


Carya . 


17. 


Honey Locust. 


Gleditschia tricanthos. 


18. 


Locqst — 


Rohinia — 


19. 


Black. 


pseudo-acacia. 


20. 


Yellow. 


var. (?) 


21. 


Maple — 


Acer — 


22. 


Soft (Silver-leaf Maple). 


dasyearpum. 


23. 


Sugar. 


saccharimim. 



Planting in Kansas. 



347 





COMMON NAMES. 


BOTANICAL NAMI 


24. 


Mulberry — 


Moi^tis — 


25. 


' Red. 


rubra. 


26. 


Russian. 




27. 


White. 


alha. 


28. 


Oa.k 


Quercus — 


29. 


Burr. 


7nacrocarpa. 


30. 


Osage Orange (Bois d'arc). 


Madura aurantiaca. 


31. 


Peach. 


Amygdalus j^ersica. 


32. 


Pecan. 


Canja olivceformis. 


33. 


Pine- 


Plnus — 


34. 


Black, or Austrian. 


Austriaca. 


35. 


Scotch. 


sylvestris. 


36. 


White. 


strobus. 


37. 


Poplar — 


Populus — 


38. 


Balm of Gilead. 


caiidicans. 


39. 


Lombardy. 


dilatata. 


40. 


Silver-leaf. 


alba. 


41. 


Red Cedar. 


Juniperus Virginiana. 


42. 


Sycamore. 


Platanus occidentalis. 


43. 


Walnut- 


Juglans — 


44. 


Black. 


nigra. 


45. 


Willow- 


Salix — 


46. 


Gray or White. 


alba. 



1401. Trees reported as grown suecessfully in the several Counties of 
Kansas, arranged in order of preference. 

(Where two or more series of numbers nre given, they show returns from different 

correspondents. 

Allen, 44, 7, 17, 30, 5, 42, 12, 11, 22. Davis 44, 6, 45, 22. 

" 44,2,7,12,22,6. " 44,22,11,0. 

Atchison, 22, 11, 44, 39. Dickinson, G, 14, 13, 44, 4, 15, 11. 

Barton, 44, 1 ] , G, 46 Edwards, 11,6, 44. 

Butler, 11, 39, 30, 44, 6, 41, 2, 12, Ellis, 11, G, 17, 30, 12, 44, 8,2. 



45. 
Chautauqua, 11, 43, 39, 6, 22, 5. 

11, 22, 44, 12, 6. 
Cherokee, 44, 11,21, 39, 32. 
Cloud, 11, 6. 
Cowley, 44, 7, 6, 22. 
Crawford. 11, 21,43, 7,6, 23. 



" 11,44, G, 1, 17, 7, 12,22,2,30. 

" 43,11,6,2,7. 

" 11,44, G, 15, 2, 30. 
Elk, 43, 11,21, 7, 6, 39. 
Franklin, 43, 11, 21, 2, 12, 42 
Harper, 1 1 . 
Harvey, 11, 6. 43, 13, 15, 5, 22, 39. 



348 



Planting in Kansas. 



Jackson, 11, 6, 43, 37, 46. 
Jefferson, 11, 22, 43, 14. 
Jewell, 11, C, 4;], 2, 22. 
Johnson, II, 43, 37, 21, 2, G, 7. 
Kingman, 44, 7, 17, G, 2, 21. 
Labette, 11, 22, 39,43. 
Leavenworth, 11, 22, 43, 42, 23. 
Lincoln, 11, 6, 5, 13, 14,-44. 
Lyon, 11, 43, 12, G, 2, 45, 17, 10, 30. 
Marshall, 11,6, 45, 22, 2, 18, 43, 24. 

16, 28. 
Miami, 11, 22, 14, 44, 7, 23, 5, 6, 41, 

36. 
Mitchell, 17, 11, 44, G, 13, 14, 30. 
McPhei'son, 7, 44, 11, 46, 30,6. 
MontgomerN^ 11, 22, 7, 2, 43. 
Morris, 11, 44. 
Ness, 11, G, 12, 2,43, 10 1. 
Nemeha, 11, 22, G, 17, 43, 12. 
Neosho, 11, 22, 39, 45, 14, 13. 
Ottawa, 11, 43, G, 2, 22. 
Pawnee, 1, 17, G, 11. 44, 12, 4G. 



Pottawatomie, 11, 22, 6, 44, 17. 

Pratt, 11, 6, 44. 

Reno, 11, 6, 5, 7, 44, 12, 46. 

Rice, G, 2, 44, for uplands; 11, 44, 

for lowlands. 
" 43,6,^7,22,19,17,12,11,41,1. 
Rush, 11, 6, 43, for lowlands; 11, 

for uplands. 
Russell, 2, 6,44, 30, 22, 11, 7. 
Saline, 11, 6, 44, 5, 19, 17. 
Sedgwick, 11, 19, 45, 6, 7. 
Shawnee, 44, 11, 22, 7. 
Sumner, 44, 22, 12, 6, 11. 

11,6,43. 
Wallace, 11, 0, for lowlands; 5, 43, 

22, for uplands. 
Wabunsee, 11, 6, 44, 22, 13. 

11,44, 6, 13, 14, 41, 17, 

2, 7. 
Washington, 11, 6, 43. 
Woodson, 22, 1, 44, 11. 



1402. It appears from the above, that the cotton wood is found 
successful in 56 reports out of GO; the walnut, or black walnut 
(probably intended to be the same), in 56; the box-elder in 48; the 
maples (probably the soft maples only) in 37 ; the elms in 29 ; the 
ash in 25 ; the catalpa in 18 ; the honey-locust and willows each in 
13; the poplars (besides cotton woods) in 10; the osage orange in 
10; the ailanthus in 5; the red cedar in 4; the hackberry, locust, 
and sycamore, each in 3 ; the coffee-bean tree and wild cherry each 
in 2 ; and the hickory, pecan, mulberry, oak, and white pine, each 
in 1. 

1403. As first on the list, we find the cottonwood in 37 reports; 
the walnut or black-walnut in 12; the soft maple and the box-elder 
each in 2, and the ailanthus, ash, catalpa, and honey-locust each 
in 1. 

1404. In 1878, a list of preferences was published by this same 
society, in which the cottonwood is mentioned by 40 correspond- 
< uts ; black-walnut by 33; box-elder by 30; white-maple by 29 ; 
white and red elm by 22 ; oaks and catalpa by 14 ; mulberry by 11 ; 



PloTitivg in Kansas. 349 

aiJanthus by 9, and the Lombardy and abele poplars and hackberry 
each 7. 

1405. Of evergreens, 30 had succeeded with tlie red cedar ; 26 
with the black Austrian pine ; 22 with Scotch pine ; 16 with white 
pine ; 10 with Norway spruce, and 6 with arbor-vitse. 

1406. The ''Forestry ManiiaV of this society, published in 1882, 
reports the black-walnut as cultivated successfully in 57 counties ; 
the catalpa in 45 ; the osage orange in 39 ; the honey-locust in 34, 
and the mulberry in 30. 

1407. The experience of planters in Kansas and Nebraska has 
been hitherto adverse 1o the cultivation of the beech, birch, chest- 
nut, hard or sugar-maple, and most of the conifers. The white wil- 
low, that succeeds admirably further north, in Iowa and Minne- 
sota, and in states further east, does not succeed in many parts of 
Kansas. It has suffered badly from the locusts. 

Propagation from Cuttings and Native Seedlings. 

1408. The cottonwoods and other poplars were almost invariably 
reported as easy to propagate by cuttings. The willows, and less 
frequently the catalpa, are also mentioned as easy to propagate in 
this manner. 

1409. As to the time of procuring cuttings, opinions varied, the 
greater number advising that they should be cut late in fall or early 
in winter, when the wood was not frozen, and that they should be 
buried below the reach of frost, to be set as soon as possible upon 
ground previously prepared , in the spring. When thus preserved the 
lower end would have a callus just ready to put forth roots, and 
they would get an early start. ♦ The last season's growth should be 
taken, and in pieces ten inches or a foot in length. They were found 
to do best when set deep (some mentioned a sloping position as best), 
but so that only a small part — one or two buds — should be above 
the ground. The earth should be pressed down firmly upon them 
at the time of setting. 

1410. Seedlings, plowed up along the sand-bars of rivers, should 
be gathered in the fall, tied in bundles, and buried upright in 
trenches until spring. They are generally more sure to get a start 
than cuttings. If cut back to near the ground when set they will 
often take a more vigorous growth. The soil should be firmly 
pressed down around them at the time of planting, as in the case of 



350 Planting in Kansas, 

cuttings. The lowlands in Kansas and Nebraska are rather more 
favorable for the growth of timber than the uplands, altliough the 
Cottonwood, box-elder, soft maple, walnut, catalpa, osage orange, 
Lonibardy poplar, and other trees are cultivated upon the latter 
with success, when well cared for. 

1411. The ailanthus has been found well adapted for resisting the 
drouth in Kansas as far west as the 100th meridian, and it is read- 
ily rejDroduced from s^irouts and cuttings from the roots. 

Distance between Trees. 

1312. It is almost the universal experience of correspondents, that 
trees do best when planted close, and generally in rows 4 feet apart 
and three or four feet between. If at equal distances each way and 
set upon land marked both ways, they can be cultivated by cross- 
plowing very conveniently. In planting it is w^ell to put in several 
seeds, and when cultivating the plants afterwards, pull up all but 
one, leaving the most thrifty. The plants thus taken out may be 
lifted with the soil still upon the roots, and set into vacant places. 

1413. The frequent stirring of the soil with a cultivator, by pre- 
venting the surface from becoming packed or crusted over, is found 
most beneficial in a dry time, and should not be omitted, whether 
there are weeds to kill or not. 

Effect of Shelter-Belts. 

1414. With scarcely an exception, the opinion w^as expressed by 
correspondents of the Kansas Society, that trees planted in belts 
in that state had afforded j)rotection to fields of grain, or orchards, 
gardens, and stock-yards. As to the width at which they should be 
planted, opinions varied from four or five to twenty or thirty rods. 
As a screen around buildings, the red cedar was much recommended, 
and for success the plants should be started from seeds in seed-beds, 
and be set when small. It was not fully settled by experience as 
to whether a shelter-belt should run east and west, or north and 
south, in order to afford the most protection. This would probably 
depend somewhat upon the general slope of the surface. 

1415. Since trees have been planted in groves in the prairie 
reo-ion, it is noticed that insectivorous birds have become more com- 
mon. They should be protected by a law supported by strong pub- 
lic sentiment. 



^ Planti7\g in Kansas, 351 

The Locust-Tree in Central Kansas. 

1416. A correspondent in Central Kansas,^ reports to the State 
Horticultural Society unexpected success in planting the black lo- 
cust. It had escaped the borers, and had lived through severe 
drouth. Trees planted in 1873 were in eight years large enougli 
for two fence-posts, and produced an abundance of material for vine- 
stakes and other uses. He estimates that 2,000 trees can be grown 
on an acre, and that by extreme care and cultivation they would in 
seven years produce 4,000 posts worth at 20 cents each the sum of 
$8C0. Allowing a broad margin for casualties, there would still be 
a strong motive for planting this tree, should it hereafter be found 
that it is not there liable to the insect injuries that have proved so 
disastrous in Illinois, or if more effectual means for preventing 
these injuries should be hereafter discovered. 

Gathering and Preservation of Seeds. 

1417. Nuts with a hard shell like the black-walnut must be 
gathered as soon as ripe, and may generally be planted the same 
fall. It is commonly preferred, however, to spread them upon the 
ground, with a light covering of litter and soil, or in a bcx mixed 
with earth and moistened from time to time. They should be ex- 
posed to frost, and in the spring should be planted for permanence, as 
they luill not bear transplanting. 

1418. We advise that generally every alternate tree be a walnut, 
and the remainder a cottonwood, white willow, or box-elder, where 
it is intended that a fine, h gh, and regularly formed grove of the 
walnut is finally desired. The nurses may be taken out as the trees 
begin to crowd one another. A little mixture of other kinds, such 
as the ash, oak, catalpa, elm, and perhaps of red cedar might be 
desirable, and of more profit than all of one kind. 

I 1419. Seeds of the Osage orange, ash, box-elder, sycamore, ca- 
talja, and i.oney locust may be put away in a cool, dry place, and 
kopt till spring. They generally do best when planted early. In 
K ansas they do best as forest trees when planted where th* y 
are to grow. The seeds of the honey locust must be scalded before 
planting. 

1 J. B. Schlichter, of Sterling, llice Co. 



352 Planting in Kansas. 

Preparation of the Ground. 

1420. This is uniformly necessary in a prairie country, and can 
best be done by thoroughly plowing and harrowing, after raising 
one or two crops of grain. For early planting or setting of cut- 
tings or young seedlings pulled up along the sand-bars of rivers, the 
plowing m?.y best be done the fall before, and the markings when 
ready to plant or set. 

1421. The weeds must be kept down by passing between the row^s 
with a cultivator, and afterward by hoeing, as with corn. This 
should be done only in the early part of summer, (never later than the 
middle of July), and should be repeated three or four years, until 
the ground is well shaded, after which the trees will, need only 
thinning out from time to time, and protection from cattle and from 
fires. It is not until the trees get so large that their foliage is above 
the reach of stock, that cattle may be admitted safely to a planta- 
tion. 

1422. The rubbish from fallen leaves, etc. , should always be left 
to decay on the ground. A bed of leaves tends to hinder evapora- 
tion from the soil, and to keep the ground moist longer after a rain. 

1423. In setting any of the evergreens, we would decidedly 
recommend their purchase from nurseries, as they are difficult to get 
started from the seed without careful management. They will be 
best likely to succeed where sheltered in the south side by a grove 
or hedge. They will also need a heavy mulching in dry seasons. 

Tree-culture in Places well advanced upon the Plains. 

1424. The plantation of cottonwoods for temporary use, ma^ some- 
times be practiced in places well advance upon the plains, where in 
very dry seasons they may sometimes fail when six or eight inches in 
diameter. Such failures may cause disappointment, but are by no 
means a total loss. The wood is still available for firewood, and the 
trees while they lived, proved a shelter to fields and orchards, and 
perhaps may have protected the slower growing kinds that survived 
the drouth. This should not discourage from renewed attempts in 
planting, with the view of securing these temporary benefits, even 
if the trees grow no larger than poles. In such case, it would 
be worth while to plant a certain portion of land every year, ex- 
pecting perhaps only a crop of firewood and poles. They will be 



Planting in Nebraska and Kansas. 353 

wonli what tliey cost, although it might not be expected that they 
would become larger trtes. 

1425. In river valleys upon the plains, where the water disap- 
pears wholly from the surface in summer, and the channels appear 
to be utterly arid, the water may still, in many places, be found by 
digging to a distance not greater than that which may be reached 
by the roots of trees. 

1426. The black walnut appears to be the best adapted to these 
situations, and although not so rapid in growth as some other trees, it 
makes a success where the sub-soil is not too firm and moisture is 
within reach. In such localities, transplanting is impossible, and 
the nuts previously sprouted must be planted where the trees are to 
grow. 

1427. The general statements in this chapter, drawn chiefly from 
the experience of Kansas, will apply, with some modification, to 
Nebraska. The soil is very nearly the same ; in both States the 
surface rises at about the same grade as we go west, and the differ- 
ence in latitude would scarcely be felt, except in a very few species. 
The Osage-orange would be found less hardy in Nebraska, and the 
white willow probably more thrifty. 

1428. In both States, we can not too strongly urge the importance 
of the cottonwoods and other rapidly growing kinds as nurses for 
the more valuable, which can not be started without shelter when 
young. It is also found that fliU planting has many advantages 
not formerly realized, and in some situations a decided preference. 
It is an excellent practice, in new and untried locations, to multiply 
experiments in the small way, before investing largely in any thing 
in the way of tree-planting. These experiments may apply to dif- 
ferent species — to different times and methods of sowing or plant- 
ing — different soils, and various modes of management. By these 
means alone can one depend upon the particular course best adapted 
to his location, and the manner of obtaining the best results. 



354 Becent Decision under the Timber- Cult are Act. 



RECENT DECISION UNDER THE TIMBER-CUL- 
TURE ACT. 



Since printing Chapter IX., in this work (pages 91 to 96), the 
followino; decisions have been made : 



•o 



"In timber-culture entry, there is no restriction upon an entry- 
man as to the time when the work must be done, provided it is 
done within the time required by law. The work can be done by 
the cntryman, his agent, or his vendor. 

" If one purchase land whicli has been in whole or in part broken, 
planted, or cultivated by another, the spirit of the law is as fully 
met as if he had personally performed the work." 



I N" D E X. 



Abele poplar, 284, 349. 
Abies (i;eMus), 41, 304, 338. 

anui bills, 839. 

bi'ac'tenta, 341. 

concolor, 339. 

Douglasii, 337. 

Fraserii, 338. 

grandis, 339, 340, 841. 

magiiilica, 339. 

Menziesii, 334. 

n obi I is, 340 

pi'ctinata, 42, 151, 341, 342. 

subalpiiia, 339. 

Williamsoniana, 336. 

Abietinea, 304, 316. 
Absolute humidity, 12, 15. 
Absorption by vital process, 194. 
Acacia (ijjenus), 259. 

dealbata. 259. 

Grei;-i;-ii, 259. 

homalophylla, 260. 

niolaiioxy]on,2GQ. 

pycuantlia. 259. 

Acer (lienus), 234, 346. 

compesti-e, seed of, 32. 

circinatum, 239. 

dasycarpnin, 237, 346. 

-la brum, 239. 

macropbyllum, 238. 

ney;und(), 239. 

nigrum, 237. 

Pennsylvanicum, 238. 

pseudo- platan us, 33, 14G. 

rubrum, 146, 238. 

saccharin urn, 146, 236,346. 

spicatum, 238. 

tartaricum, as a hedge plant, 

146. 

Acetates, prepared from smoke, 153. 

A corn- worms, 1<S0. 

Acorns, mode of keeping, 34. 

Acre, number of ti'ees on an, 50. 

Acres of forest in European coun- 
tries, 83. 

Actinostrobus, 304. 

Adaptation of species to conditions, 90 

Addison, quotation from, 114. 



Adornment, planting for, 115. 
-^sculus (genus), 253. 

Californica, 255, 256. 

- — flava, 255. 

glabra, 254. 

hippocestanam, 254. 

parviflora, 255. 

Age for transplanting, 43. 

Agency of birds and animals in 

planting, 31. 
A<;gsbach, sctiool of Forestry at, 107^ 
Ailaiithus ulandulosa, 93, 2b8, 346. 
Air, expansion and contraction of, 15, 

exposure of roots to, 43. 

Alabama, ]Mne belt in, 200. 

dving off of chestnut trees in, 

223. " 

Albumen of seeds, 35. 
Alder, 84, 210, 231. 

blossoms of, 30. 

percentage of charcoal in, 151. 

Aleppo pine, period of fail growth, 

105. 
Alirorobis glandulosa, 129, 130, 131. 
Alkalies in wood, 152. 
Alkaline soils, 6. 
Alnus (genus), 231. 
glutinosa, 231, 232. 

incana, 233. 

()l)loiigifolia, 233. 

Uregona, 233. 

rhombi folia, 233. 

rubra, 233. 

Alps, timber-line on, 25. 
Alsace, cbe.^tnut growi^. in, 222. 
Alternations in forest growth, 90. 
Alucitae, or feather-winged moths, 

179. 
Alum, preserving properftes of, 193. 
Amelanchier (genus), 264. 

alnifolia, 264. 

Canadensis, 146, 264. 

Aments, flowers so called, 29. 
American alder, 233. 

aspen, 284. 

white oak, 216. 

vew, 314. 

355 



356 



Index, 



Americans, instability of, 116. 
Amherst Agrieul. Col., experiments 

at, 78, 
Amyj^dalus Persica in Kansas, 347. 
Animals, agency of in planting, 31, 32. 
Annular budding, 4G. 
Antiseptic processes, 187. 
Ant-lion, 174. 
Ants, 179. 
A pelt cited, 194. 
Apples (genus Finis), 260. 
Apple trees, 93, 121. 146. 
Aqueous vapor in atmosphere, 12. 
Araucarieae, 41, 304, 316. 
Arboriculture defined, 1. 
Arbor days, 62. 

Arboretums, should bo labeled, 125. 
Arbor-vitse, 84, 303, 304, 305. 

giant, 306. 

in Kansas, 349. 

Arbors for sheltering seed-beds, 40. 
Arbutus Menziesii, 289. 
Arcachon, dunes of, 109. 
Arctostaphylos, glauca, 289. 

pungens, 289. 

Argillaceous soils, 6. 

Arizona, privileges of citizens of, 95. 

white oak, 213. 

Arrow-wood, 269, 298. 
Aitemisia tridentata, 7. 
Arthrotaxis, vitality of seeds of, 41. 
Aschaflenburg, school of Forestry 

at, 108. 
Ash, percentage of in burned woods, 

152. 
Ash (trees), 270, 346, 348. 

grown as coppices, 98. 

grown as high forests, 102. 

leaved maple, 93, 239. 

period of full growth, 105. 

white, heating qualities of, 146. 

Asia Minor, timber of, 84. 

valonia from, 206. 

Asimina triloba, 289. 
Aspect, or direction of slope, 9. 
Aspen, quaking, 85, 289. 
Associations, Village-improvenient, 

122. 
Atlantic States, timber of, 84. 

range of humidity in, 15. 

Atlas-cedar, 304. 
Atmometer, Lamont's, 19. 
Atmosphere, composition of, 11. 
Audobon's Peak, timber-line on, 26. 
Auricle-leaved magnolia, 296. 
Austria, forest administration in, 106. 



Austria, forests in, 83. 
Austrian pine in Kansas, 349. 
Autumnal colors, 79, 234. 

layer, so called, 69. 

sowing, 41. 

Avalanches of snow, 25. 
Avenues of approach, 117. 
Back-firing to stop forest fires, 158. 
Bacteria, a cause of decay, 188. 
Baden-Powell, H. B , cited, 27. 
Bald-cypress, 84, 304, 310. 
Baliveau, reserves so called, 101. 
Ball of earth, freezing of around 

roots, 54. 
Balm-of-Gilead poplar, 288. 
Balsam-fir, 338. 

insects injurious to, 187. 

Balsam-spruce, 339. 

Bamboo shells, transplanting in, 54. 

Banks, consolidation of, 57, 231, 283. 

Bank's pine, 329. 

Barberry, not found in California, ^^. 

Bark-boring insects, 163, 164, 165, 

166, 168, 170, 171, 172, 180, 182, 

185, 187. 
Bark, grafting of, 46. 
if loosened, kills the wood un- 
der it, 144. 

lice, 174. 

of roots 76. 

of trunk and branches, 67, 72, 73. 

removal of, in part, 62. 

tanning, 325. 

Barney, E. E., on Catalpa, 291. 
Ban-ens of West, cause of, 87. 
Barren scrub-oak, 213. 
Barres, school of guards at, 108. 

plantation of pines at, 320. 

Barriers for checking torrents, 110. 

Bartram oak, 213. 

Basins of water-supply should be 

wooded, 18. 
Baskets, transplanting in, 54. 
Basket-willow, 280, 281. 
Basswood family, 88, 240. 

grows from sprouts, 98. 

insects injurious to, 184. 

Beach-grass, planted on dunes, 109. 
Bear-oak, 213. 
Bear-river pine, 337. 
Beaver-meadows, cause of overflow, 

22. 
Beaver-tree, 295. 
Bedford-willow, 279. 
Beech (genus Tagus), 89, 93, 146, 225, 

349. 



ladex. 



357 



Beech, classification of, 210. 

does not reproduce from sprouts, 

98. 

grown as high-forests, 102. 

insects injui'ious to 184. 

leaf, structiiie of, 64, 65. 

northern range of, 89. 

percentage of charcoal in, 151. 

period of lull growth, 105. 

Imports of, 227. 

weight lost in drying, 139. 

wood, structure of, 68. 

Bees, 179. 

agency of in fertilizing blos- 
soms, 29. 

Beetles, general notice of, 169. 

Behlen, (Stephen, on effect ot moon's 
age in cutting timber, 138. 

Belgium, lorests in, 83. 

Bentham & Honker, classification of 
conilers l)y, 303. 

Benzoin, not found in California, 80. 

Beri^entz, school of Forestry at, 107. 

Bei'muda-grass, planted on dunes,109. 

Bethell process of wood-preservation, 
194. 

Betula (genus), 146, 228. 

alba, 146.229. 

excelsa, 230. 

glandulosa, 230. 

Tenta. 146, 230. 

nigra, 230. 

occidentalis, 230. 

papvracea, 230. 

Betulse, 2"'i0. 

Bignonia catalpa (see Catalpa), 290. 
Bii-cli (genus Betula), 84, 89, 93, 210, 
228, 349. 

black, 102, 146. 

grown in high-forests, 102. 

insects injurious to, 184. 

noi'thern limit of, 89. 

percentage of charcoal in, 151. 

period of full growth, 105. 

sap-pressure in, 79. 

seeds, described, 31. 

weight lost in drying, 139. 

white, 146, 229. 

Birds, agency of in planting. 31. 

encouraged by shelter-belts, 350. 

insectivorous, 167. 

must be kept from pine-seed- 
beds, 167. 
Birdseye maple, 237. 
Bitter-hickory, 279. 
Black ash, 272. 



Black birch, 230. 

( h'agns fusca), 228. 

ciherry, 262. 

drink, made from a holly (?), 



293. 



93. 



fir, 337. 

-jack oak, 213, 214. 

succeeds pine, 90. 

locust, under timber-claim act, 

maple, 237. 

oaks, 211, 214. 

pine, 325. 

spruce, 332, 333, 334. 

walnut, 93, 146, 275, 276, 348, 

349. 

insects injurious to, 182. 

on the plains, 353. 

Blackwood, 260. 

Blizzards, winter storms so called, 22. 
JJIossoms, essential parts of, 28. 
Bhie ash, 272. 

])ecch, 233. 

berries, not found in California, 



88. 

Rocky Mountain spruce, 334. 

Bohl, c-ited', 194. 

Jiombyces, or spinning moths, 176. 

Bom by X neustria, 176. 

pini, 176. 

processionea, 162. 

Borax, preserving properties of, 193. 
Borers, locust, 257. 

(See Bark borers; Wood bor- 

ers.) 

Bore-spade, 38, 53. 

Bostrichus, 166, 167, 171, 172, 187. 

Botan}', province of, 3. 

Bouchei'ie, preserving process of, 

194, 195. 
Boundary' street in parks, 124. 
Bowlder.*, how concealed by plant- 

inir, 118. 
Box-'elder, 84, 03. 

(genus Ncgundo), 239. 

in Kansas, 346, 348, 350. 

range of, 87. 

sugar from, 240. ^ 

Boxes, transplanting h-om, 54. 
Bracing of trees in planting, 55. 
Brakes, R. R., made of willow, 280. 
Brambles, clearing out of, 104. 
Branches, growth of, 74. 

mode of catting off, 59. 

Bread, from chestnuts, 222. 
Breaking of prairie soils, 8. 



358 



Index. 



Brcant. apparatus of, 191. 

J3reathiiii;-po?'es in insects, 65. 

Breniontier, N., planting of dunes 
bv, 1(H). 

Brewer, Prof. W. H., citerl 85. 

Brewer's oak, 213. 

Bridger's Peak, timber-line on, 25. 

Broadcast sowinir^ 87. 

Broillard, cited, 222. 

Broom-hickoi-y, 275. 

Bryant, Artiiur, cited, 285. 

Bu'charia, recent injuries from clear- 
in ;jj in, 20 

Buckeyes, 84, 253, 254, 255. 

Buckthoin, 129, 296. 

Buds, how formed, G3. 

when formed on roots, 77. 

Buddinir, proce-s of, 8, 46. 
Burtalo- berry, 129, 130, 131, 298. 
Bull, Marcus, experiments of, 139, 

]45, 146. 
Bull-pine, 325. 
Buncli-iii-a-ses of plains, 88. 
Bupesiridue, or saw-horned beetles, 

169. 
Burgundy pitch, 204. 
Burifd cedar, 86, 306. 
Burls, ash, 271. 

black-walnut, 276. 

walnut, 76. 

Burnett, process for preserving wood, 

196. 
Burning-bush, 292. 
Burning of coal-pits, 147-149. 
Burr-oak. 213. 
Bush, definition of, 2. 
Butterflies, 174. ' 
Butternut, 84, 89. 93, 146, 277. 
Button-busl), 269. 
Button wood, 93, 251. 
Calamagrostis arenaria on dunes, 109. 
Calcareous soils, 6. 
California black-oak, 214. 

box-elder, 240. 

chestnut-oak, 214, 218, 

eucalyptus in, 265. 

forest- fl .ra ot, 88. 

injuries from clearing in, 28. 

jumper, 309. 

'laurel, 298. 

live-oak, 214. 

nutmeg, 304, 315. 

peculiarities of liora of, 88. 

sale of timber lands in, 95. 

white-cedar, 128, 303, 304. 

white-oak, 213. 



Callitris, 41, 304. 

quadrivalvis, 76. 

Calosoma, a carnivorous insect, 1G2. 
Cambium layer, 67. 
Camel-cricket, preys on other in- 
sects, 173. 
Canada balsam, 203, 339. 

black walnut in, 277. 

button wood in, 252. 

chestnut in, 219, 220. 

forest-trees in, 89. 

Kentucky coHee-tr(»e in, 258. 

maple-leaf the emblem of, 236. 

pitch, 204. 

remai'kable size of pine in, 316. 

timber resources of, 84. 89. 

white pine region in, 320. 

Canals, supply of water for, 18, 
Canker-worms, 177, 180. 
Canoe-birch, 230. 

Cape Cod, pine plantations on, 328, 

332. 
Capita], investment of in forests, 79, 

80. 
Capricorn-beetles, 166, 173. 
Capri foliaceie, 269. 
Caragana arborescens, 129, 130, 131, 

136. 
Carbon in wood, source of, 11, 65. 
Carbonic acid gas in atmospliere, 11, 
Cai'boniferous period, gsises in, 11. 
Carey's preserving pi'ocess. 196. 
Carlsruhe, school of Forestry at, 

108. 
Carnivorous insects. 162, 165, 187. 
Caipenter-nu)th, 180. 
Cai'pinus (genus). 2o3. 

.\mericana, 146, 233. 

betulus, 32, 234, 235. 

Carriere, on vitality of seeds, 41. 
Carving, wood must be seasoned for, 

142. 
Carya alba, 146. 275. 

amara, 274. 

aquatica, 275. 

glabra, 275. 

oliva^brmis. 274, 347. 

porcina, 146, 275. 

tomentosa, 275, 346. 

Cascade range, timber-li_:e on, 25. 
Case, Leonard, planting begun by, 

123. 
Caspian -willow, 280, 281. 
Castagno di Cento Cavalli, 221. 
Casta nea pumila, 224. 
vesca, 146, 219, 220, 221, 346. 



Index. 



359 



Castanopsis chrysophylla, 221. 

Catalpa bignoiioides, 84, 88, 290. 

^ cord i folia. 290. 

speciosa, 290, 346. 

sy ri n i;-terol iji, 290. 

ill Kansas, 34(3, 348, 349, 350. 

ill ornamental planting, 121. 

Catesby's oak, 214. 

Catkins, pedant tree blossoms, 29. 

Cato, cited, 138. 

Ceoidomya salieina (on willows), 282. 

Cecidom ydiadae, 1 79. 

Cedar, buried, 86, 30G. 

cutting oft" bv selection, 96. 

of Lei)anon, 304, 316. 

oil, 204. 

pine, 329. 

red, 93, 308. 

Cedars, dift'erences in leaves of, 66. 

Cedrus (cedar of Lebanon), 304, 316. 

Cei hilar tissue of wood, 67. 

Cellulose, 71. 

Cell is (genus), 250. 

occidentalis, 150, 346. 

orientalis, 250. 

Cemeteries, planting in, 126. 
Cephalantlius, occidentalis, 269. 
Cephalotaxis, vitality of seeds, 41. 
Cerumbycidcse, notice of, 173. 
Cerambyx carcliarias, 173, 

heros (wood bored by), 165, 166. 

Cerassus, (See Prunus.) 
Cercis Canadensis, 259. 

siliquastruni, 259. 

Cercocarpus ledifolius, 291. 
Changes in forest growths, 90. 
Charcoal, 144, 147. 

absorbing power of, 147. 

chief uses of, 147. 

percentage cf to wood, 146, 167. 

physical properties of, 147. 

red, 153. 

used as land-marks, 145. 

— ^ — value of in difterent woods, 146. 

weight of, 139. 

Charring promotes durability of 

wood, 189. 
Charter-Oak, historical interest of, 

115. 
Chemical process for wood pulp, 206. 
Chemistry, relation to Forestry, 1. 
Cherries (genus Prunus), 262. 
Cherry-birch, 93, 2'iO. 
Cherry, in Kansas, 146. 346, 348. 
Chestnut, 89, 146, 219, 220, 221, 846, 
349. 



Chestnut, as food, 222, 

classification of, 210. 

disease of roots of, 78. 

dying off of, 223. 

extract of, 223. 

grows from sfirouts, 98. 

insects injurious to, 182. 

oak, 93, 212, 214. ' 

California, 218. 

period of full growth, 105. 

white-oak, heating qualities of, 

116. 

wood for coopers' use, 223. 

Chickasaw plum, 202. 

China, timber of, 81. 

Chinese cedar, for hedges, 128. 

Chinquapin, 224. 

oak, 212. 

Chips of elm, with buds, will grow, 

46. 
Chisels, pruning, 60. 
Chloro|)hyll, 61, 65, 
Chrysob(.thris femorata, 183. 
Cicida septemdecem, 180, 
Cinchonas, transplanting of, 54, 
Citizens of certain states, rights of, 

95. 
City-of-Elms, New Haven so-called, 

123, 
City parks, planting of, 123. 
Chidrastis tincloria, 260. 
Clammy U)cust, 258, 
Clark, W, S., experiments bv, 78, 

193, 198. 
Classification of oaks, 2 J 2. 

of pines, 318. 

Clearing, effects of, 22, 26. 

Clethra, not found in California, 88. 

Cleveland, O., called tlie "Forest 

City," 123. 
Clilf-dwe. lings of New Mexico, 26. 
Climate, definition of, 10. 
Climatic changes affect insect life, 

167, 
Close planting, necessity of, 50. 
Clouds, lormation of, 16, 17. 
prevent the formation of dew, 

16, 
Coal-pits, construction of, 147-149, 
Coal-tar, application to wounds in 

trees, 101. 

preservation by aid of, 189, 190. 

Coast region of Southern Slates, 86. 

Cockroaches, 173. 

Coftee-tree (i;enus Gytnnocladus), 88, 

258, 346, 348. 



360 



Index. 



Coffee-tree, how transplanted, 54. 
Cold, forests killed by, 23. 
Coleoptern, general nutice of, 169. 
College-class trees, 114. 

parks, 125. 

Colonial supplies of timber, 82. 
Color, given by absorption, 195. 

of soil, etl'ect of, 7. 

Colors, autumnal, 79, 234. 

of wood, causes of diflference, 

144. 
Colorado, cliflT-dwellings in, 27. 



arrowth of wood on 



irrigated 



lands in, 70. 

injuries that must result from 



clearings in, 28. 
— privilege of citizens of, 95. 
timber-line in, 26. 



Columella, cited, 138. 
Commemorative planting, 115. 
Commercial facilities for supply of 

timber, 82. 
Common names of trees uncertain, 4. 
Compost for seed-beds, 40. 
Condensation, effect of, 10. 
Coriiferse, an example of a nat. order, 

3. 
Coniferin, how prepared, 204. 
Conifers, classification of. 303. 

decay of in mountains, 88. 

general notice of, 299. 

grafting of, 302. 

immense size of on Pacific 

coast, 89. 

in New England, 86. 

in liocky Mountain Kegion, 87, 



88. 

— may he planted closely, 50. 

— of Pacific coast, 24, 89. 

— '■ particularly liable to insect rav- 
ages, 163. 
— ^ peculiarity of leaves of, 65. 

— planting of, 303. 

— quality of wood of, 71. 
resinous products of, 199. 

seeds have several cotyledons, 



35. 

soils suitable to, 302. 

structure of wood of, 72. 

suitable for screens, 128. 

symmetry of grt)wth, 75. 

taken from native forest, 51. 

Coniferous trees, insects injurious to, 
185. 

woods, injection of, 192. 

■" peeling of, 137. 



Coniferous woods, seasoning of, 140. 
Connecticut, sumac gathered in, 210. 
Constantinople, School of Forestry in, 

108. 
Contests of timber-culture claims, 

94. 
Contorted grain of wood, 76. 
Contraction from cooling, 15. 
Contrasts of timber growth, 84. 

of abundance and scarcity, 89. 

Control of forest fires, 158. 
Convolvulus, troublesome to willows, 

283. 
Cooling tends to contract bodies, 15. 
Copal m resin, 294. 
Copenhagen, gardens in, 125. 

School of Forestr}^ in, 107. 

Copf,ice, for fii-ewood, 144, 145. 

for tanning barks, 207. 

-growth, ii.anagement of, 97. 

quality of wood in, 71. 

when to be cut, 98. 

C(jrnace9e, 267. 
Cornel family, 267. 
Cornus (genus), 268. 

fi.-ri'da, 146, 268. 

Nuttalii, 268. 

Coryllese, 210. 

Cork oak, 62, 212. 

Corporations, management of forests 

by, 105. 
Corrosive sublimate, a preservative, 

197. 
Corrosion of lime by smoke, 151. 
C(>rsican pine, period of full growth, 

105. 
Cottonwood, 284, 286, 346, 348, 350. 

as a nurse to other trees, 38. 

extraoi'dinary growth of, 70. 

in village planting, 120. 

insects injurious to, 183. 

of Pacific coast, 288. 

on the jdains, 352. 

pollards, 60. 

seeds of, 31, 33. 

self-sown, 37. 

should not be ph\nted too large, 

56. 

under timber-culture act, 93. 

j'ellow, so called, 287. 

Cotyledons of seeds, 34. 

Counties in Kansas; list of trees pre- 
ferred in, 346-348. 

Covert, definition of, 101. 

Crab-apple in hedges, 129. 

tree, in Oregon, 262. 



Index. 



361 



Crab-npple, s\veet-&cented, 261. 

Cracks from seasoning, how pre- 
vented, 141. 

in timber, from frost, 24. 

Cratai;iH (genus), 2G4. 

cocci nea, 264. 

oxycantluis, 129, 136. 

paniciilata, 264. 

rivularis, 264. 

Creosote, preserving properties of, 
194. 

Crickets, 173. 

Cryptomeria Japonica, 41, 310. 

Crypturgus, 187. 

Cucumber-tree, 294, 

Cultivation between trees, 350. 

of hedges, 130. 

preparation by, 8. 

in timber-culture claims, 91. 92, 

354. 

Cunninghamia, vitalitv of seeds of, 
41. 

Cupressinese, 303. 

Cupressus (genus), 303,307. 

-. Arizonica, 307. 

Goveniana, 307. 

in cemeteries, 126. 

Macnabiana, 307. 

macrocarpa, 307. 

Nutkanus, 307. 

Cup shake, in timber, 143. 
CupubferiB, 210. 
Curl-mapb^ 238. 
Currant-bush borers, 184, 
Currants, cuttings set in fall, 45. 
Curves illustrating humidity, 13, 14. 
Curved walks, when not admi sible, 

125. 
wood, how produced, 6), 61, 

102. 
Cuscata, troublesome on willows, 283. 
Custom, influence of, 114. 
CuLting-back of oaks, etc., 52. 

of wood, time for, 98, 137, 138. 

Cuttings of willows, when made, 181, 

182. 
Cuttings, propagation by, 44, 349. 

very large, should not be used, 

56. 

Cylindrical bark-beetles, 187. 

Cyllene picta, 182. 

Cynodon dactylon, planted on dunes, 

109. 
Cypress, 303, 307 

differences in leaves of, 66. 

Dacrydium, vitality of seeds of. 111. 



Dahoon, 293. 

Dakota, privileges of citizens of, 95. 

Dammara australis, 204. 

Damp climates, favorable to coppices, 

100. 
Dav3% Sir Humphrey, process by, 

197. 
Dead wood, removal of, 103. 
Deciduous leaves, 64. 
Decisions under timber-culture acts, 

92-95, 354. 
Decline in fruit production, 26. 
De Courval, method of prunir.o- by. 
60. •^' 

Deepening of channels of streams, 

19. 
Defects of timber, 143. 
Definitions, 1. 
Degrees of slopes, 9. 
De la Blanchere cited, 161. 
Denmark, forests in. 83. 
Dennisville, N, J,, buried cedar at, 

306, 
Density of cuUi/ated forests, 104. 
Des Cars, method of pruning by, 60. 
De Saussure, on absorption of gases 

by charccial, 147, 
Devoid of timber, term defined, 94. 
Dew, when formed, 16, 
Dew-point, 12. 

rain falls when the air is 

cooled to, 16. 
Decay of wood, preventions of, 187. 
Deer, injury to trees from, 161. 
Dibble, not to be used in planting 

seeds, 38. 
Diervilla, not found in California, 88. 
Digger-pine, 326, 
Dioecious blossoms, 29, 
Diospyros Texana, 292, 

Virginiana, 146, 292. 

Diptera, general notice of, 179. 
Disintegration of rocks, aided by 

roots, 7. 
Distance between plants, 49, 50, 350. 
Disinfecting properties of charcoal, 

147. 
Distillation of turpentine, 199. » 

Distilled products of wood, 153. 
Distortion from seasoning, 141. 
Divides, timber on western, 88. 
Division of the soil and its defects, 6, 
Day-flies, 174. 
Doi^wood, American and Asiatic, 84, 

146. 
maple, 238. 



3C2 



Index. 



Dou!2;las, Dr. David, notice of, 338. 

Tfir, 90, 304, 337. 

Downy poplar, 28. 

Drai^on-flu's, 174. 

Drains, tilled by roots, 119. 

Drawini; and resetting of trees, 42. 

Drift, transportation of soil by, 4. 

])riftin<!; of snow prevented by plant- 
ing, 23. 

sands, how fixed, 108. 

Dromart, process of charcoal making, 
152. 

Drouth, effect of on wood growth, 69. 

how caused, 18. 

turning point of, 17. 

Druid-City ,"Tuskaloosa so called, 123. 

Drying eff.-ct of winds, 22. 

houses for forest seeds, 34. 

Dry-rot, in timber, 189. 

Ducts in wo(Kl-structure, 67, 68. 

Duhamel, method for checking tap- 
roots, 43. 

on seasoning of wood, 140. 

Durability of wood, how produced, 
141, 187. 

Dunes, planting of, 108. 

Dutch-beech, 284. 

Dwarf-oak, 214. 

Dying-otr of chestnuts, 223. 

Earle, cited, 194. 

Earth, how warmed by snow, 23. 

thermometers, 21. 

Eastern aspect, 9. 

Eberswalde, School of Forestry at, 
108. 

Egleston, N. H., cited, 123. 

Egypt, injuries from clearing in, 26. 

Eisnach, School of Foresty at, 108. 

Elastic force of vapor, 12. 

Elateridejfi, notice of, 170. 

Elders, 269. 

Elliott's pine, 331. 

Elm (genus Vlmus), 243. 

cork. 245. 

grown in high- forests, 102. 

Tn Kansas, 346, 348. 

red, 244, 245, 246. 

rock, 244. 

slippery, 244, 245. 

small-leaved, 245. 

white, 243, 340. 

wych, 247. 

insect injuries to, 180. 

not found in California, 89 

period of full growth, 105 

ripens seeds in spring, 33. 



Elm, seeds described, 31. 

soil having potash, favors, 7. 

under timber culture act, 93. 

white, 146. 213. 

Embryo of seeds, 35. 
Emerson, Geo. J}., cited, 146, 250. 
Emery's oak, 214. i 

Endogenous growth, 2. 
Endosmose, 78. 

Engelmann, Dr. Geo., classification 
of oaks by, 213. 

classification of pines by, 317. 

• on catalpa, 290. 

Engelmann's spruce, 334. 
England, forests in, 83. 
English elm, 127, 245, 246. 

hawthorn, 129. 

maple, seed of, 32. 

oak, 215. 

Entry of timber claims, 91. 
Epidermis of bark, 67. 
Epigea, not found in California. 88. 
Equilateral triangles, planting in, 48. 
Erosions, effect of aspect on, 10. 

• prevented by willows, etc., 283. 

Escoi'ial, School of Forestry at, 108< 
Essential oils, from conifers, 204. 
Eucalyptus (genus), 264. 

cornuta, 265. 

gigantea, 265. 

globulus, 66, 265, 266. 

marginata, 265. 

rostrata, 265. 

transplanting of, 54. 

viminalis, 265. 

Eugenias, 267. 

Euonymus Americana, 292. 

angustifolia, 292. 

atropurpurea, 292. 

EurofiC, forest-areas in, 83. 
European forest administrations, 105. 

schools, 107. 

larch, 343, 344, 345. 

oak, 212. 

plans of forest-management, 96. 

silver-fir, 341. 

Evaporation, 12. 

a cooling process, 16, 17. 

from leaves, 65. 

from soils, 20. 

how measured, 19, 20. 

Evergreen-oak, Californian, 219. 
Evergreens, in ornamental planta- 
tions, 117, 119. 

must be started in nurseries, 

351. 



Index. 



363 



Everirreens, should not be placed in 
front, 118. 

1 ransplantinsj of large, 55. 

Evois, School of Forestry at, 107. 

Example, iiifliience of, 114. 

Exceiitric growth, 75. 

Exchange of homestead-entry to 
timber-purchase, 96. 

of timber-culture claims not al- 
lowed, 94. 

Excursions of Forest Societies, 107. 

Exfoliation of bark of Scotch pine, 
73. 

Exogenous growth defined, 2. 

wood, structure of 66. 

Exotic species, where desirable, 127. 
Expansion from heat, 15. 
Experiments advised. 44, 128, 358. 
should precede extensive plant- 
ing, 85. 

Explosion of coal-pits, 148. 
Extrai;t of chestnut, 223. 

tanning, 207. 

Fagus (genus), 225. 

Ounninghamii, 228. 

ferruginea, 227. 

iu sea, 228. 

.Menziesii, 227. 

Solandri, 228. 

sylvatica, 225, 226. 

Fall, catlings set in, 45. 

transplanting, 44. 

Farm iiouses, location of, 116. 
Fees, of timber-culture act, 91. 
Fertility, how given to soil by trees, 

66. 

how maintained, 91. 

Fertilization of blossoms, 28, '29. 

of soil in planting, 8, 9. 

Fertilizers, use of, 56. 

Fibers of roots, 52, 53, 76, 77. 

Field-oak, 214. 

Fields, pi-oportion to woodlands, 82. 

Filaments, of stamens, 28. 

Finland, forests in, 83. 

Fir, Douirlas, 93, 337. 

rainiy, 338. 

period of full maturity, 105. 

weight lost in drying, 139. 

Firs grown as liiLjh-forests, 102. 
Fire, coal-pits liable to cause, 148. 
guards, 100, 156, 157. 

— — -wood, qualities required for 

best, 144. 
Fires, causes of, 155. 
cause oak openings, etc., 86, 87. 



Fires, forest, 154-159. 

prevention of, 156. 

Fish, intoxication of, 255. 

Fissures, soil in, reached by roots, 5. 

Fitzroya, 301. 

Flexible pine, 321. 

Flies, 179. 

Floated wood, drying of, 140. 

Floods, effect of woodlands on, 18. 

Flood-wood, loses umch of its weight, 
140. 

Florida, alternation of growth in, 90. 

p-nu-belt in, 200. 

Fk)wer.ng dogwixnl, 268. 

Fogs, how caused. 16. 

Forest administi-ations, 105, 106. 

Ci t v,Clev elan d,0., so called, 123. 

.-fires, 154, 159. 

growth, alternations in, 90. 

guards, lOii. 

management, plans of, 96. 

planting in Scotland, 112. 

Fore.-ti-y Associations, 107, 108. 

definition of term, 1. 

"schools of, 107. 

sciences involved, 1. 

what it teaches, 2. 

Forests, effect on melting snows. 23. 

how they may cause rain, 17. 

relation lo rainfall, 21. 

Forfeiture of timber-claims, 92. 

Forsythias, 270. 

Fortifications, line of changed to 

gardens, 124. 
Fountains in ptirks, 124. 

in rural plantations, 117. 

France, care of b.rds taught in 
schools. 167. 

chestnut as food in, 222. 

disease of chestnut trees in, 78, 



224. 



forest-administration in, 106. 
forests in, 83. 

forests killed by frost in, 23. 
planting of dunes in, 108, 109. 
reboisement in, 111. 
roadside planting in, 121. 
time of tfansplanting in, 44. 
turpentine-production in^ 201. 



Fraxinus (genus), 270 

Americana. 146, 271. 

anomala, 272. 

cuspidata, 272. 

di petal a, 272. 

excelsior, 270. 

Greggii, 272. 



364 Lidex. 

Fraxiniis Oreirona, 272. Ginkgo, 65, 301, 315. 

]>istac-it)eiolia, 272. Glady limestone, red-cedar grows on, 

• i^latyearpa, 272, 308. 

pubescens, 272. Glauhnr, preserving process of, 190. 

quadrangulata, 272. Gleditschia tiicanthos, 129, 258, 346. 

t.a:ni)Ucihilia, 272. Gluten (.)f soed.s, 35. 

viridi<, 272. Glycobus speciosa, 183. 

Frenela, vitality of seeds of, 41. Gnats, 179. 

Fringe-tree, 270. Gnetam, vitality of seeds of, 41. 

Frost, injuries of, 7, 23, 24, 41. Goats, pasturage of injurious, IGO. 

Froth-insects, 174. Goat-willow, 279. 

Fruit, decline in production, 25. Gooseberries, cuttings may be set in 



-flies, 179. fall, 45. 

killed by unseasonable frost, 24. Gormand branches of oak, 101. 

Fi\y process, paj)er making, 206. Gopher, injuries Irom, 131, 160. 

Fuel, experiments of Marcus Bull, Grades of lorest-service, 106. 

145. Grafting, 3. 45, 46. 

qualities requisite in, 144. of conifers, 302. 

Fuertage, so called, 96. ' Grain of wood, contorted, 76. 

Full-growth of forests, 102. sown with lorest-tree seeds, 41. 

Fun>;i, a cause of disease in Avood, (Jrand Haven, Mich., dunes at, 108. 

188. Grape-cuttings, may be set in fall, 
upon roots, 77, 224. 45 



Futaie (high-ioi'esi), 102. Grass-hoppers, 173. 

Gaining rates of wood growth, 81. Gratings in pavements over roots of 

Gi^iissoniei'e, la, 295. trees, 121. 

Gall fl.es, 180, 183, 185. Gratz, School of Forestry at, 107. 

Game-laws, utility of, 167. Gi-ay, Dr. Asa, cited, 88. 

Gardens, on line of old fortifications, Gray-oak, 213. 

124. pine, 329. 

Gases, absorbed by charcoal, 147. -willow, 279. 

formed in meilei's, 149. Gray's Peak, timber-line on, 26. 

from smoke, 153. Grease-wood, on alkaline soils, 7, 

Gatliering and keeping of seeds, 33, Great Britain, forests in, S3, 89. 

351, rains in, 23. 

General views upon Forestiy, 79. Greece, forests in, 83. 

Genus, detinition of term, 3. injuries from clearing in, 26. 

name olten irom Greek, 4. vaionia produced in, 206. 

Geology, relations to Forestry, 1. Greek oi'igin of generic names, 4. 

Geometer-moths, 180. Gri-en ash, 272. 

Geometra brumata, 179. Green, the color of foresters, 106. 

Geometrie, or span-woi-ms, 177, Grigor, J., cited, 278. 

Georgia, pine-belt in, 200. Grinding of wood for paper, 205. 

■ moi-tality among chestnut trees Ground fires, how stopped, 157, 158. 

in, 223, 224. hemlock, 318. 

Germany, Schools of Forestry in, Groves, coolness of, 16. 

107. favor insectivorous birds, 167. 

forest-administrations in, 106. asceiding currents, 17. 

forests in, 83. Growth of wood, iJK)y 69, 70, 71, 74, 

roadside planting in, 121. 81. 

Germination of seeds, 35. prociss of, 63. 

Giant arbor-vitsG, 306. . rates of, 75. 

tree of California, 312, 313. stimulated by removing outer 

Giessen, Sciiool of Forestry in, 108. bark, 62. 

Gilbert's Peak, timber-line on, 26. Grub prairies, 52. 

Ginger-pine, 307. Guano, as a fertilizer, 56. 



Index. 



365 



Guoss, George (Sequoia), oil. 

Guyot, Prof., tables by, 14. 

Gum-ene^-al, 301. ' [88. 

trees lint found in California, 

: formerly not allowed in 

timber-claims, 93. 

Gunpowdei-, charcoal used in, 152. 

Gymnudadus Canadensis, 258, 346. 

monosperma; 258. 

Gvmnospenns, 300. 

Hackberry, 93, 250, 346, 348. 

Hackniatsick, 343. 

Han'uenau pine, 334. 

Hales, llev, Stephen, experiments by, 
78. 

Ilalesia fgenu«), 270. 

dif)tera, 270. 

parviflora, 270, 

tetraptera, 270. 

Hamamelis Virginica, heating qual- 
ities of, 146. 
Hand-shears for pi'uning, 60. 
Hard nut pine, 326. 
woods, how planted in Scot- 
land, 113. 
Hardy c italpa, 200. 
Hartig, cited, 105. 
Hartmann process in paper-making, 

205. 
Hatzfield preserving process, 196. 
Haw, 269. 
Hawthorn, 129, 136. 
Hazel-nut, 84, 210. 
Hearths ior tar-i)its, 203. 
Heart- leaved magnolia, 295. 

shake in tiniber, 143, 

wood, no circulation in, 188. 

Heat, different effects of upon. soils, 7. 

expandinir power of, 15, 

— passage of, through snow, 22, 

23. 

• peeling of oak by aid of, 208. 

Heating qualities of various woods, 

146. 
Heavy yellow pine, 323. 
if edges, 127. 

Hellebore for killing insects, 167, 282. 
Hemi[itera, general notice of, 174. 
Hemlock, U. 304, 335. 

ins.cts injurious to, 187. 

oil. 204. 

pitch from, 204. 

suitable for screens, 128. 

Ian-bark from, 207. 

Henry's Lake, timber line at, 25. 
Herbaceous grafting of conifers, .302. 



Herculaneum, charcoal fiund at, 1 15. 
Hesse- Darmstadt, School of Fore.-try 

in, 108. 
Hessian flies, 170. 

Heyer, Lr, instrument invented bv. 
53. *^' 

Hickories, 93, 274. 275, 346, 318. 

follows where pine is cut, 90. 

insects injurious to, 181. 

loss of weight in drying, 139. 

not found in California^ 89. 

pig-nut, heating qualities of, 

146. 

red heart. 146, 

shell-bark, 146. 

High cranberry, 269. 

forests, management of, 102. 

Himalayas, timber of, 84, 127. 

timber-line on, 25. 

Hitching-posts in villages, 120. 
Hoar-frost, 12, 16. 
Hochwald, term defined, 102. 
Hoeing of seed-beds and nurseries, 

40. 
Holes for planting preparation of, 

122. 
Holland, forests in, 83. 
Hollow Cotton woods, cause of, 56. 
Holly family, 84, 88, 146, 292. 

differences in leaves of, 66. 

in hedges, 120, 

Home-adornment, 115. 
Homestead, attachment to, 115, 

entry act. 44, 94, 96. 

Honey locust, 84, 88, 93, 258, 346, 
348, 349. 

in hed2:es, 129, 

Hooker, Bi-ntliam and, classification 

of conifers by, 303, 
Iloop-pt.les, season for cutting, 99, 

137. 
Hop-hornbeam. 233. 
Horni)eam {Usirya), 89, 146, 210, 233, 
234. 235. 

blossom of, 29. 

grown as high forest, 102. 

weight lost in drying, 39. 

winged seed of, 32. 

(A>,s-a), 268. 

Horse-chestnut, 253, 254. 

in ornamental plantinir, 121. 

Houtin and Boutigny, preserving 

process, 197. 
Hubs, excellence of sour-gum for, 

268. 
elm, 244. 



366 



Index. 



Huckleberries, not found in Califor- 
nia. 88. 
riui^on, preservincj process of, 190. 
Humic acid, composition of, 4. 
llunius, definition of term, 4. 
Hiintincjdon willow, 279. 
Hybrids, amcmu; oaks, 214. 

willows, o. 

liow formed, 8. 

llvdrnulic power, supply of water 

Yor, 18. 
Hylesinus piniperrla, 1G4. 
Hvlobus (pine weevil), 185. 
Hylurgus, 187. 

llymenoptera, freneral notice of, 179. 
Ichneumon flies, 179. 187. 
Idaho, privilei!;e of citizens of, 93. 
Ilex aqui folium, 292. 

C'assine, 292 

— — Dahoon, 293. 

opaca, 129, 146, 292. 

Ilicincae, 292. 

Illinois', chancre of climate in, 18. 

foi-ests of, 87. 

timber in, 87. 

Illuminatin-j: gas from wood, 154. 

Improved methods of working tur- 
pentine, 201 . 

Incombustible wood, 193. 

India, injuries Irom clearing in, 27. 

Indiana, forests of, 87. 

Injection of timber, apparatus for, 
191. 

Injuries to hark of trees, how treat- 
ed, 46. 149. 

Insects, how they aflTect wood-growth, 
168. 

Insect-poisons, 107. 

ravjii^es, 69, 70. 161. 

Insectivorous birds, 167, 350 

Inspection of forests, 106. 

Institut agnnnomique, 108. 

Intervals between trees in rows, 47. 

of time between thinnings, 58. 

Intoxication of fish, 255. 

Investments in forestry, 79, 116. 

Iowa, evergreen hedges in, 129. 

Ireland, forests in, 83. 

rains in, 22. 

Iron wood, 89,210, 296. 

formerly excluded from timber- 
claims. 93. 

Italy, chestnuts as food in, 222. 

disease of chestnut trees in, 78, 

224. 

forests in, 83, IOC. 



Italy, injuries from clearing in, 26. 

olives, how trimmed in, GO. 

Japan, timber of, 84, 1:^7. 

Japanese cedar, 310. 

Jardina'i:e (cutting by selection), 96. 

Jars, transplanting from, 54. 

Jersey pine, 829. 

Jettys, willows used for, 280. 

Jones, l)r , process of, 193. 

Judas-tree, 259. 

Juglandeffi, 273, 275. 

Juglans Californica, 277. 

cinerea, 146, 277. 

nigra, 146, 276, 347. 

rupestris, 277. 

June, l)est month for breaking 

prairies, 8. 
Juniper, 303, 808. 

insects injurious to, 187. 

oil of, 204. 

[Larix Americana), so called, 

394. 
Juniperus (srenus), 803, 808. 

Californica, 309. 

communis, 128. 

occidentalis. 309. 

pachvphlaea, 809. 

Virginian a, 128, 146, 308, 347. 

Sabina, 309. 

Juni. destruction of spruces in, 172. 

Kalmia aiigustifolia. 293. 

tilauca, 294. 

lati folia, 88, 146. 293. 

Kaltenbach, cited, 168. 

Kansas, tree-planting in, 346-352. 

Karsten, cited, 145. 

Kauri gum, 201. 

Keller, K. C, itivention of, 205. 

Kentucky coffee- tree, 54, 88, 258, 346, 
318. 

Kilns for making charcoal, 149, 150. 

tar. 203. 

Knees, timber for, in ship-building, 
102. 

Knowles, process proposed by, 197. 

Kyanizing process, 197. 

LabeN, in arboretums, 125. 126. 

Labidardiere, discovers Eucalyptus, 
265. 

Ijace-winged flies, 174. 

Lake Superior, forests south of, 87. 

rainy region south of, 21. 

Lambert, A. B., notice of, 321. 

Lambert's Pine, 321. 

Lamont's atmometer, 19. 

— ^ earth-thermometer, 21. 



Index. 



367 



Lampblack, how made, 203. 

Lundes in France, trees in, 5. 

Lands, timber, sale of, 95, 

Lansing, iMich., meteorological rec- 
ords at, 15. 

Lapparent, M. de, method of, 190. 

Larch, 301, 313. 

how planted in Scotland, 112. 

in Great Britain, 90. 

]iercentage of charcoal in, 151. 

period of full growth, 105. 

under timher-culture act, 93. 

Large cuitings, not desirable, 56. 

flowered magnolia, 295. 

leaved magnolia, 295. 

toothed poplar, 286. 

trees, transplanting of, 55. 

Larix (genus), 304, 343. 

Americana, 343. 

Europea, 112, 343. 

Lyallii, 343. 

■ occidentalis, 343. 

Latent heat. 15. 

Lateral roots of oak, 43, 

La Teste, dunes of, 109. 

Latin origin of specific names, 4. 

Laurel (eenus Kalitda), 293. 

Cafifornia, 298. 

oak, 212. 

Lawson's cedar, 307, 

Layers of growth, in reference to 
strength of timber, 142. 

Layers, propagation by, 45, 99, 

Leal-buds, how formed, 63. 

like appendages to seeds. 31. 

mining insects, 180, 183, 184. 

-mold, best fertilizer of trees, 8. 

rolling insects, 177, 183. 

Leaves, difl'erences in form and size, 
66. 

evaporation from, 16. 

gathering of, for fodder, 99, 

structure of, 64. 

Lee, process in paper making, 206, 

Leguininoste, 3, 

Leipzig, gardens in, 125. 

Lemburg, School of Forostrj^ in, 107, 

Lep doptera, general notice of, 174. 

Letellier, pi-ocess proposed by, 197, 

Lucobalanus (division of oaks), 213, 

Levant, valonia from, 207, 

Leveret, H., methods proposed by, 
43. 

Libocedras decurrens, 128, 303. 

vitality of seeds of, 41. 

Ligustrum vulgare, in hedges, 129. 



Lilac, 273. 

Lime, preserving properties of, 193. 
Limestones, carbonic acid in, 11. 
Ijincoln, Neb., experience in plant- 
ing, 51, 58. 
Linden, 84, 240. 

bark of, 73, 

grow from sprouts, 98. 

insects injurious to, 184, 

Wood, structure of, 72. 

Linseed-oil, preserving qualities of, 

190, 192. 
Liquidamber styraciflua, 294, 

heating qualities of, 146. 

Liriodendron tulipifera, 250. 

heating qualities of 196. 

Lisbon, School of Forestry at, 108. 

Lissino, 108. 

Literature of Forestry, 107. 

Litter, effect of upon water from 

rain, 18. 

should not be removed, 90, 103. 

Live-oak, 212, 213, 217, 218. 

Loam, definition of, 5, 

Loblolly pine, 336, 

Locusts (insects ^ 174, 180, 182, 

(trees), 88, 102, 105, 256, 257, 

258, 346, 348, 351, 

black, 346, 

yellow, 346, 

Locut, honey. (See Honey locust.) 
Lombardv poplar, 46, 118, 121, 190, 

285, 350. 
London-purple, as an insect-poison, 

167. 
Long-acorned oak, 218. 

-leaved pine, 86, 330. 

Long's Peak, timber-line on, 26. 
Lorentz & Pai-ade, cited, 145. 
Lostal, M,, process of, 193. 
Louisiana, pine belt in, 200, 
Lucanidae (stag-beatles), 169. 
Lymexvlon,, a wood-boring insect. 

164. ^ 
Lysimeters, 20, 21, 
jMcCorquodale, Wm., account of 

planting by, 112. 
Madura juirjuitiaca, 247, 248, 347. 
Madron a, 289, 
Magnolia ; genus), 84, 88, 294. 

acuminata, 294. 

aurieutata, 296. 

eoi'datii, 295. 

glauca, 295. 

grandiflt.ra, 146, 295. 

macrophylla, 295. 



368 



Index. 



Magnolia, umbrella, 295. 

Mabo^xai'V, 298. 

MaillaidiBre, la, 295. 

:Malte-Bnm, c-itod, 26. 

Manitoba; trees of, 89. 

Mantcliuria, timber of, 84. 

jSIarjiirc, bow best applied, 8. 

Maples (i;enus Acer), 234. 

at Lincoln, Neb., 58. 

black, 237. 

do not grow well from sprouts, 

98. 

grown in bigh-forests, 102. 

in Kansas, 346, 348, 349, 350. 

insects injurious to, 183. 

red, 14G, 238. 

smootli, 239. 

soft, 83, 146, 346. 

striped, 238. 

sugar, 93, 146, 236, 346. 

vine, 239. 

weigbt lost in drying, 139. 

Margary process, 197. 

Maritinie pine, fails in Massachu- 
setts, 109. 

period of full maturity, 105. 

planted on dunes, 109. 

suggested for Pacific States, 84. 

turpentine Irom, 201. 

Marking-hammer, a symbol of for- 
ester's prolession, 106. 

Marsh, George P., cited, 26. 

Matches, danger from careless use 
of, 156. 

31 ate (Paraguay-tea), 293. 

Mathemiitics, relation of to For- 
estry, 1. 

Maxwell, Thomas, cited, 123. 

May-flies, 174. 

]\ eal-worms, 174, 178. 

]\Iechanics, relation of to Forestry, 2. 

Medulla, oi" pith, 66. 

IVledullaiy rays, 67, 68. 

do not shrink, 142. 

Meilers, (coal-pits), construction of, 
147-149. 

Melanobalanus (division of oaks, 214. 

Melia Azedarach, 296. 

]\Ielolontha, vulgaris, 170. 

31 citing of snow, 23. 
oMemorial trees, 114. 
Mennonites, mulberry planted by, 

249. 
Menzies, Dr. Archibald, 335. 
JVlenzies' spruce, 334, 335. 
Mesquit, 296. 



Meteorological influences, 10. 

relatiims to Forest ly, 2. 

]Vlexican persimmon, 292. 

plane-tree, 252. 

JSIexico, copal m resin from, 294. 

Michaux, cited, 285. 

classification of oaks by, 212. 

Michigan, arbor-day in, 62. 

exportation of oak from, 217. 

flres, 155. 

fi.rests of, 87. 

timber in, 87. 

Middle States, injuries from clearing 
in, 27. 

trees of, 86. 

JNIiiitary parade, squares for, 126. 

Mineralogy, relations of to For- 
estry, 1. 

Ministries in charge of forests, 106. 

Minnesota. arboi--da\'s in, 62, 

forests of, 87. 

grub-prairies in, 52. 

pine-region of, 320. 

timber in. 87. 

Mirimachi fire of 1825, 155. 

Mississippi, jetties of, 280. 

pine-belt in state of, 200. 

Mixture of species, 50, 76, 100. 

JMocUer-nut, 275. 

jVIodernes, reserves so called, 101. 

Mohr, Dr. Chas., cited, 331. 

Moisture, may be present without 
rain, 12. 

precipitated in crossing mount- 
ains, 22. 

retained by muck and peat, 5. 

JNlole cricket, 173, 174. 

Money value of farms increased by 
planting, 119. 

Monoecious blossoms, 29, 

IMonohainmus confusor, 187. 

Montana, privilege of citizens of, 95. 

Monterey cypress, 307. 

pine, 326. 

Monuments, in parks, 125, 126. 

Moon's age, superstition in cutting 
trees, 138. 

Moose- wood, 238. 

Moreau process for charring wood, 
152. 

Mortar, corroded by smoke, 151. 

Morus (genus), 248, 347. 

alba, 248, 347. 

nigra, 249. 

rubra, 248. 

tartarica, 249. 



Index. 



369 



]M<isco\v, School of Forestry at, 108. 
JNIosses, absence of in Manitoba, 89. 
Mossy-cup oak, 212. 
Moths, 174, 175. 
Mountain ash, 93, 261. 

laurel, 14G, 299. 

mahogany, 291. 

maple, 238. 

Mountains, deplete the winds of 

moisture, 22. 

erosions, how prevented, 110. 

frosts upon, 24. 

replanting;; of, 57. 

Mount Engelinann, timber-line on, 

2t). 

Shasta, timber-line on, 25. 

Muck, how formed, 4. 
Mulberry, 89, 848, 349. 

leaf, 64. 

red, 347 

llussian, 249, 348, 349. 



white, 248, 347, 

Mulching, importance of, 56, 58, 122. 

Miinden, School of Forestry at, 108. 

Munich, School of Forestry at, 108. 

JNlosquitoes, 179. 

Myall ( Victorian ncaci'a), 260. 

JVIyrtaceae (natural order), 264, 267. 

Myrtle [Fagus Lhinninghaniii), 228. 

Names, common and scientific, 4. 

Nancy, School of Forestry at, 108. 

Nanqnette, H., cited, 138. 

Napoleon I., fixes time for cutting 
trees, 138, 

Narrow-leaved willow, 280. 

Native growth, an indication to De 
noticed, 85. 

forest resources of U. S'., 85. 

Natui-al Histoi'y, relations to For- 
estry, 1 

Natural order, definition of term, 3. 

Naval stores, 199 

Nebriiska, arbor-day in, 62. 

planting in, 346, 353. 

Necessity of close planting, 50. 

Negundo aceroides, 87, 239, 346. 

Californiensis, 240. 

Nematus ventralis, on willows, 282. 

Neuroptera, general notice of, 174. 

Nevada, privilege of citizens of, 95. 

sale of timber-land in, 95. 

Newberry, Prof. J. S., cited, 33J. 

New England, injuries from clearing 
in, 27. 

trees of, 85. 

New Haven, the "City of Elms," 123. 



New Jersey, buried cedar in, 306. 
New Mexico, clitl-dwel lings in, 27. 

pollards in, 60. 

privilege of citizens, 95, 

Night-moths, 175. 

Nitrate of soda, 56. 

Nitrogen in the atmosphere, 11. 

Noble fir, 340. 

Nocture, or owlet- moths, 177. 

Nomaison process for peeling bark, 
208. 

Nootka cedar, 307. 

Norfolk-Island pine, 304. 

North America, general view of tim- 
ber of, 84. 

North Carolina, chestnut failing in, 
223. 

pine-bolt in, 200. 

Northern aspect, 9. 

balsam -fir, 339. 

Northrup, B. G., cited, 123. 

Norway, forests in, 83. 

forest-schools in, 108. 

pine, 323. 

rains in, 22. 

spruce, 128, 333, 349. 

pitch from, 204. 

Nova Alexandria (Poland), School 
of Forestry in, 108. 

Number of trees on a given acre, 49, 
50. 

Nurseries, 5, 39, 42. 

Nurses, trees planted for, 38, 50, 51. 

Nuts, how planted, 34, 35, 38. 

Nyssa (srenus), 268. 

inultiflora, 4(), 268. 

Oak, agrees with beech and pine, 51, 
104, 216. 

bark, obtained by coppice- 
growth, loor 

barren, heating qualities of, 146. 

scrub, heating quiilities of, 146. 

blossom of, 29. 

burr, 347. 

chestnut-white, heating qualities 

of, 146. 

exportation of, 217. 

grown as high-forests, 102. 

grows readily from sprouts, 98. 

hybrids of, 3, 214, 215. 

openings, how caused, 87. 

peeling of, by heat, 208. 

period of full growth of, 105. 

pin, heating qualities of, 146. 

qualities, liow affected, 216. 

red, heating qualities of. 146. 



370 



Index. 



Oak, rock-chestnut, heating qualities 

of, 14G. 
roots, mode of securing lateral, 

43. 
scrub black, heating qualities of, 

14G. 

sensonod by peeling, 140. 

shell-bark white, heating qual- 
ities of, 146. 

Spanisli, heating qualities of, 146. 

structui-e of wood of, 00, 67. 

tan bark of 2(J7, 208. 

under timber-culture act, 93. 

weight lost in drying, 139. 

white, heating qualities of, 146. 

yellow, healing qualities of, 146. 

Oak-leaf-and-acorn, a symbol with 

foresters, 106. 
Oaks, and their related species, 210. 

classifications of, 210, 212. 

• grown with other species, 51, 

104, 216. 

iiow planted in Scotland, 112. 

in Canada, 89. 

in Kansas, 347, 348. 

insects that injure, 180. 

range of growth, 211. 

transplanting of, 43, 52, 215. 

Objects of forestry, 101. 

Oblong-leaved oak, 213. 

Oi-ean winds, 22. 

Odors, introduced by absorption, 195. 

Ohio, arbor day in, 62. 

buckeye. 254. 

forests of, 87. 

Oil from Eucalyptus, 266. 

of turpentine, 199. 

Oils, essential, from conifers, 204. 

iiiipreirnation of wood with, 192. 

Old-field pine, 326. "* 

(>lea Kuropea, 273. 

Olive, 60, 273. 

Olneya t-sota, 296. 

One-leaved pine, 323. 

Orchards, benefitted by shelter-belts, 

132. 
Ordinances for protection, in villages, 

120. 
Oregon aldci", 233. 

ash, 272. 

cedar, 307. 

crab-apple, 262. 

hemlock, 336. 

maple, 238. 

pine, 337. 

' sale of timber in, 95. 



Oreodaphne Californica, 298, 299. 
Organic materials in the soil, 4. 
Oriental plane-tree, 252. 
Ornamental planting, 113. 
Orono, the range of hun)idity at, 15. 
Orthoptera, general n(.tice of, 173. 
Osa-eorange, 84, 93, 247, 248. 

^ as a hed-e plant, 129. 130, 131. 

in Kansas, 247, 248, 249, 250. 

limits of, 131. 

Osier-Willows, 280, 281, 282. 
Osmanthus Americana, 273. 
Ostrya Virginica, 296. 
Outcrop of rock formations, 7. 
Overcup white-oak, 212. 
Overflow kills trees. 22. 
Oxydendrum arboreum, 296. 
Oxygen in atmosphere, 11. 
Pacific coast, injury to mountains in, 

111. 

oaks of, 218. 

rains upon, 21, 22. 

timber of, 88. 

trees from, not adapted to 

United States, 84. 
Packard, A. S., Jr., report on insects 

by, 109. 
Painting, a preserving process, 190. 

of wounds, 101. 

Palmer's dwarf-oak, 214. 

Palmetto, 2. 

Paper baskets for transplanting, 54. 

from wood, 205. 

Paraguay tea, 293. 

Paris-green as insect poison, 167. 

Institut agronomique at, 108. 

Parks in cities, planting of, 123. 
Parry, C. C, timber-line as given hj, 

25. 
Pastui'age, injuries from, 96, 99, 110. 

of woodlands, 159. 

Patents for hedges, 131. 
Pavements, guards around trees in, 

120. 
Paving-stones under oak seed-beds, 

43. 
Pawpaw, 88, 289. 
Pavne process for preserving wood, 

198. 
Peach, in Kansas, 347. 
formei-ly excluded from timber- 
claims, 93 
Pear (ge-us Pirns), 84, 260. 
Peat, composition and uses of, 5 
Pecan-nut. 274, 347, 348. 
Peeling of oak by heat, 208. 



Index. 



371 



Peeliri'j; of wood hastens dryinc:, 140. 
Pens should not be lelt in trimming, 

Pepperidije ( Nysf^a), 268. 
Percentages ot humidity illustrated, 

13, 14. 
Percolation of water, how measured, 

20, 21. 
Perfume from Eucalyptus, 267. 

pine sap, 201. 

Period for cuttin>; cop})ice-wood, 99. 
Periodical literature of lorestry, 107. 
Perishable baskets for transplanting, 

54, 218. 
Persimmon, 84, 88, 140, 142. 
Peruohe (hemh^ck), 835. 
Peshtigo, fii-e of, 1871, 155. 
Petioles of leaves. 04. 
Petrifaction, artificial, 195. 
Petroleum, preservTTig properties of, 

192. 
Phosphate of lime, use of, 56. 
Physics, relation to forestry, 2 
Picea (genus), 304, 332. 

alba, 128, 332. 

Engelmannii, 334. 

excelsa, 128, 332. 

Menziesii, 334, 335. 

nigra, 128, 332. 

pun gens, 334. 

yitchensis. 335. 

Piche's evaporator, 20. 

Pigeons, nesting of in beech woods, 

227. 
Pi;-- nut, 275. 

Pike's Peak, timber-line on, 26. 
Piles, durability of increased by 

charring, 189, 
Pinaster (section of pines), 318. 
Pin-du-lord, 319. 
Pine and fir tamilv, 304, (pines) 316. 

Balfour"?, 323. 

. -belt, ot Stmthern States, 200. 

blaek, or Austrian, 347. 

cutting bv selection, 96 

flexible, 321. 

■ forests in Canada, 89. 

— • — • heavv, or western yellow, 323. 

Jerse\', 146, 329. 

lea V es, 64. 

long-leaved, 330. 

Norway, or red, 323. 

one-leaved. 323. 

Parry's, 822. 

})ercentage of charcoal in, 151. 

pinon, 323. 



Pine, pitch, 318, 328. 

regions of United States, 819. 

sap, perfume Jrom, 204. 

Scotch, 301, 331, 347. 

seeds, described, 31. 

must be protected, 161. 

southern yellow, 330. 

sugar, 320. 

Torrey's, 323. 

under timber-culture act, 93. 

weevil, 185. 

weight lost in drying, 139. 

white, 318, 320, 322. 

heating qualities of, 146. 

remarkably large, 316. 

white-bai-ked, 322. 

white and yellow, Am. and 

Asiatic, 84. 

yellow, heating qualities of, 146. 

Pines as wind-bi-eaks, 134. 

benefit the oaks when young, 51. 

classification of 317. 

commercial importance of, 317. 

description (^f, 310, 317. 

in Kansas, 347. 

insects injurious to, 185. 

northern range of, 89. 

Pin-oak, 213, 214. 

Piiion pine, 823. 

Pinus (irenus), 304, 316. 

Arizonica, 323. 

australis, 80, 200, 830. 

Austriaca, 347. 

Balfour iana. 323. 

Banksiana, 329. 

cembroides, 323. 

Chihuahuana, 318. 

contorta, 325. 

Coulteri, 326. 

edulis, 323. 

Klliottii, 321. 

flexilis, 320. 

■ — var. albicaulis, 322. 

glabra, 329. 



in ops. 829. 

insignis, 826. 

Lambertiana, 320. 

mitis, 140, 329. 

monticola. 320. 

monophylla. 323. 

— ■ — muricata, 326. 

Parry ana, 322. 

pinaster, 109, 201, 202. 

ponderosa, 323. 

reflex a, 322. 

resinosa, 200, 323. 






Index. 



Piniis rigida, 97, 109, 146, 200, 328, 

329. 

Sabiniana, 32G, 327. 

strobus, 14G, 318, 347. 

sylvestris, 73, 112, 301, 321, 347. 

tjfida, 326. 

Tcrn'vana, 323. 

tuberculata, 318, 326. 

Pirns (<;eniis), 261, 

Americana, 261. 

aucupavia. 261. 

coronaria, 129, 261. 

mains, J 46. 

rivularis, 262. 

sambucilolia. 262. 

Pissodes notatus, 186. 

strobi, 186. 

Pistils, fuiK'tiutis of tbe, 28. 
Pitch, bow made, 203. 

pine, 109, 325, 326. 

Pith of wood, 66. 

Plains, cultivation on the, 352. 

Planera, American and Asiatic, 84. 

aquatica, 247. 

Plane-tree, 93, 251, 252. 

Planks, strongest way of placing, 

142. 
Plant-lice, 174. 
Planting, in Kansas and Nebraska, 

346. 
mode of, 36, 37, 38, 47, 52, 108, 

112, 122, 3.^8. 

on stony surfaces, 57. 

■ornamental, 113. 

pleasure from, 82. 



preparation of ground for, 8. 

should be close, in certain cases, 

60. 

species allowed under former 

tiniljer-culturc lules, 93. 

under homestead and timber- 
culture acts, 91, 94. 

Planting, would prevent deepening 
of streams, 19. 

ria^aneae (order), 251. 

I'iatanus orientalis, 252. 

occidentalis, 251, 347. 

racemosa, 252, 253. 

Pliny, cited, 138. 

Plum (genus Prujius), 262. 

formerly not allowed in timber 

claim, 93. 

Plumule, 35. 

Podocarpew, 804, 316. 

l*()docarpus, vitality of seeds of, 41. 

Pootry of Forestry, 114. 



Points of compass in sotting trees, 
122. 

P(tisoning of g(iphers, 131, 160. 

Pt)lenta, from chestnuts, 222. 

Political economy, relation of For- 
estry to, 2. 

Pollards, treatment of, 60. 

Pollen, I'unctions of, 28. 

Polycotyledonous plants, 300. 

Polvtecimic schools, Forestry taught 
in, 108. 

Pond-dogwood, 270. 

pine, 329. 

Ponds, ornamental, 117. 

Ptiplar familv, 277. 

abele, 284, 349. 

p,alm of Gilead, 288. 

Lorn hardy, 146, 285, 347. 

- — seed of, 33, 

silver-leaf, 347. 

tulip, 250. 

weight lost in drying, 139. 

• wood, ornamental, 60. 

yellow, 146, 

Poplars, general notice of, 284. 

growth for paper making, 206. 

grow I'eadily jroni sprouts, 98. 

in Kansas, 347, 348. 

insects injurious to, 183. 

northern range of, 89. 

planted on dunes, 109. 

ripen seed in spring, 33. 

roots seek the water, 75, 77, 119. 

• used for paper making, 205, 206, 

284. 

village planting of, 120. 

Populus (genus), 284. 

alba,^284, 347. 

angulata, 288. 

angustifolia, 288. 

baisamifera. 288. 

candicans, 288, 347. 

dilatata, 146, 285, 347. 

Freniontii, l88. 

grandidentata, 286. 

monililera, 286, 288, 346. 

tremuloides, 85, 284. 

■ trichocarpa, 288, 

Portugal, foresis in, 83, 

^^chool of Foi-estry in, 108. 

Post- oak, 212, 213. 
Posts, season for cutting, 100. 
Potash, in wood, 188, 
Prairies, causes of, 87. 
soil how prepared for plant- 
ing, 8. 



Index. 



373 



Prechtel's process of preservation, 
1U8. 

Preferences of trees in Kansas, 246- 
348. 

Preparation of large trees for plant- 
in jji;, 55, 

of soil for plantinp:. 8, 852. 

Preservation of seeds, 351. 

of wood, 187. 

Pressure of sap, 78. 

Prices of timber in Scotland, 113. 

probable increase of, 82. 

Prickly-ash, not found in California, 

88. 

pine. 329. 

Pride-of-India, 296. 

Prinos (see Ilex), 293. 

Privet, 129, 270. 

Privileges of citizens in certain 

states, 95. 
Processionary caterpillar, IGl, 162. 
Protit, questions of, 79, 80. 
from increased value of land, 

82. 
Propagation, by cuttings, etc., 44, 

349. 

in grafting, 45. 

layers, 45. 

varit)us modes of, 37. 

Propf)rtion of woodlands to fields, 82. 
Prosopis glandukisa, 295. 

pubescens, 29ti. 

Protection other than against fires, 

159. 
Proteine in the seed, 35. 
Proving of timber-claims, 92, 93. 
Pruning of goi-maiid branches, 101. 

when advisable, 59. 

Prunus (^enus), 262. 
-^ Carolinian a, 263. 

Chicasa. 263. 

Pennsylvanica, 263. 

serotiiia, 262. 

Virginiana, 263, 346. 

Prussian schools of Forestry, 108. 

Pseudotsuga Douglasii, 304, 337. 

Psych i-ometer, construction and use 
of, 12. 

Public health, promotion of by plant- 
ing, 82. 

institutions, by whom founded, 

116. 

Pulp, paper from wood, 205. 

Pulpy fruits of conifers, 41. 

seed how saved, 34. 

Purchase of public timber-lands, 95. 



Pyralides, or delta-moths, 178, 
Pyrol ignite of iron, as a preserva- 
tive, 195. 
Quaking aspen, 87, 284. 
QuercinefB, 210. 
Quercitron, 218. 
Quercus (genus), 211. 

aegilops, 206, 

alba, 146,216. 

Banisterii, 146. 

Catesbaei, 146. 

falcata, 146. 

macrocarpa, 347. 

ferruginea, 146. 

obtusitoba, 146. 

palustris, 146. 

pedunculata, 146, 215, 

bark for tanning, 207. 

prinos, heating qualities of, 146. 

rubra, 146. 

sessili folia, bark for tannine 



from, 207. 

virens, 217, 218. 



Quincunx, order of plantijig, 47. 

Babbits, injurious, 160. 

Kaliation of heat, 7, 16, 

Radicle, of roots, 35, 77. 

Kailroad companies, right of way of, 

94. 
Railroads, fires set by. 156. 

planting along, 134, 

Russian, planting by, 135, 

ties lor, liow preserved, 189, lOQ. 

when allowed to use timber, 94. 

Rain, falling upon woodlands, 18. 
filaments of, dry up over dry 

fields, 17, . 

freezino^, effects of, 24, 

how caused, 17. 

ocean winds cause, 22, 

]vainfall, relation of to forests, 21, 
Raingauges, at different elevations. 

17. 
Rainy and dry seasons, 24. 
Rake for forest-planting, 38. 
Ramel, P., introduces Eucalyptus in 

France, 265. 
Rates of growth of wood, 81. 
Reboisement, defined and described, 

110. 
Recipes for preservation of wood, 

198, 199, 
Recent decisions under timber-cult- 
ure acts, 354, 
Recession of woodlands, in West, 



374 



Index. 



Bed alder, 233. 

ash, 272. 

bee.-h, 227. 

birch, 230. 

( laqiis Menztesii), 228. 

bud, 259. 

cedar. 14(), 308. 

best evei'crreen hedcre in 



Iowa, 128, 129. 

in Kansa?, 347. 348, 349. 

insects injurious to, 187. 

I hmtino; of, 303. 

saw-dust, 206. 



ch^^rcoal. 153. 

fir, 337, 339, 340. 

maple 238. 

oak, 213. 

pine, 323, 325, 330. 

spruce, 337. 

willow. 279, 280, 283. 

Kedwood, 97, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314. 
Kei^ularity in former seasons, 26. 
Eelative humidity of atmosphere, 13, 

15. 
Eeproduction of high-forests, 104. 

from seeds, 28. 

Eesembhinces of flora of Eastern 

Asia and America. 84. 
Keserves in coppice wot. ds, 101. 
Kesinous products. 199. 
species, do not usually sprout, 

97. 
Eespii'atory organs of plants, 04, 65. 
Revenue from phmting, 82. 
Kevolution, peru d of, 99, 102, 105. 
Ehaninus catharticus, 129, 296. 

frangula, charcoal of, 152. 

Rhododendrons, 84. 
Rhus (genus), 297. 

copallina, 209. 

coriaria, 209. 

diversiloba, 297. 

glabra. 209, 297. 

integril'olia, 297. 

lauriana, 297. 

pun)ila, 297. 

toxicodendron, 297. 

typhina, 209, 297. 

venenata, 297. 

Rhynchopfioridese, 171. 
Ri^a pine, 332. 
Right's of usage. 106. 

of way to railroads, 94. 

Rio Grande valle}', cotton woods in, 

60. 
Ripening of wood, 23, 70. 



River maple, 237. 

pine, 329. 

Reads in woodlands, importance of, 

100. 
lines of defense against fire, 

157. 

planting by side of, 119-123. 



Robbins process for preserving wood, 

198. 
Robert, Dr. E., preservation of elms, 

62, 181. 
Robin ia hispida, 258. 

pseudacacia, 1;j6, 257, 346. 

viscosa, 208. 

Rock chestnut oak, 213. 

formations, give character 

soil, 4. 

-woi'k, how adorned, 117, 



to 



Rocks, underlying eflect on soil, 7. 
Rocky areas, effect of clearing, 18. 

Mountains region, 87. 

fitrests of, 87. 

snow-slides on, 24. 

timber-line in, 25. 

: white oak, 213. 



suri'aces, planting of, 57. 



near. 



Rome, planting of Eucalyptus 

55, 2ii7. 
Roots, buds when formed on, 77. 

consolidate the soil, 8. 

derive support from sub-soil, 5. 

lill drains and wells, 75, 77, 119. 

form and structure of, 76. 

from hedges, 131. 

growing together, 77. 

how they disintegrate the soil, 7. 

may injure walls, 1 18. 

must not be exposed to air, 43. 

i-adicles of, 77. 

transportation without disturb- 

ing, 52, 
Rosa laevigata, in hedges, 129. 
Rose locust, 258. 
Rosemarv-pine, 326. 
Rosin, 200. 

Rotation of crops in timber, 90. 
Roumania, forests in, 83. 
Round-leaved willow, 279. 
Rows, planting in, 37, 47. 

on iiill sides, 57. 

Royal-oak, liistorical interest in, 114. 

Rubiacege, 269. 

Ruin from destruction of woodlands, 

26. 
Rules for street-planting, 120. 
Running oak, 212. 



Index. 



375 



Rural cemeteries, plantincj in, 126. 
Eussin, fore?t administration in, 106. 

forests in, 83. 

leather, tanned with birch, 229. 

Russian mulberry, 249. 

railways, plantiui^ on, 135, 136. 

Sahal palmetto, 2. 
Sabine's pine, 326. 
Sai;(!-bush on alkaline soils, 7. 
iSauinaw Bay, timber region of, 87. 
St. Petersburg, School of Forestry 

at, 108. 
Sale of timber lands, 95. 
Salic'inefe, 277. 282. 
Salisburia adiantifolia, 41, 65,'o04, 

315. 
Salix (genus), 278. 

ai utit(;liH, 280. 

alba, 347. 

oaprea, !^79. 

fragilis, 279. 

lanceolata, 283. 

mollissima, 280. 

piuinosa, 280. 



purpurea, 280. 

rubia, 280. 

Ivussel liana, 279. 

Ural en sis, 280. 

vimiiuilis, 280. 

Sail, a presfM'ving agent, 192. 
Sambuous (genus). 269. 

Canadensis, 269. 

g'auca, 2<)9. 

nigra, 269. 

pubens. 269. 

lacemosa, 2G9. 

Sand wasps, 179. 

Sands, planting upon, 108, 109. 

growth of trees upon, 37. 

Sanitary advantages from planting, 

82. 
Sap of maple, 236. 

mineral substances in, 65. 

pressure, 78, 79. 

Saperda careharias. 184. 

ti'identata, 180. 

Sapindus saponaria, 255. 
Sarcobatus vermicularis, 7, 
Sassafras, offirin:ile, 84, 89, 146, 297, 

oil from, 2'.)8. 

Satui'ation of air with vapor, 13. 
Savin, 309. 

oil of, 204. 

Saw-flies, 179. 

Saxe- Weimar, School of Forestry in, 

108. 



Saxony, 108. 

Scandinavian forest administration, 

106. 
Si-arabseidse, notice o^^ 169. 
Scarlet oak, 213, 214, 218. 
Schemnitz, School of Forestry at, 

107. 
Scia|)ter()n, larva of, 184. 
Scientific names of trees, certainty 

of, 4. 
Schools of Forestry, 107. 
some ideas of forestry should 

be laui/ht in, 123. 
Scolytus (various species), 181, 182, 

186. 
Scotch pine, 331. 

agrees with the oak, 104. 

in Kansas, 349. 

period of full growth, 105. 

{)lanted on dunes, 109. 

Scotland, Douglas fir in, 90, 338. 

forests in, 83. 

injuries from snows in, 24. 

planting in, 112. 

prices of timbei in, 113. 

Screens, use of, 40, 117. 118. 

planting of, 127, 129. 

Screw-pod mesquit, 296. 

Scrub pine, 329. 

Season for breaking prairie soil. 8. 

for cutting wood, 98, 137, 138. 

Seasoning, distortion from, 141. 

mode of piling for, 140, 244. 

of ship-timber, 142. 

of wood, 138, 139, 140. 

Seasons, changes in, 24, 25, 26. 
Sebricht process in paper-making, 

205. 
Security of landed property, 80. 
Seed, gei'mi nation of, 34. 

reproduction from, 28. 

years, 30. 

Seed-beds, formation of, 37, 39. 

time of sowmg, 41. 

Seeding, easier on a northern slope, 

9. 

of a high-forest, 104. 

Seedlings, crushed by snow, 25. 

need shade, 105. 

propagation by. 349. 

Seeds, i>atiiering and keeping of, 33, 

34, 351. 

natural distribution of, 30. 

soaking of, 35, 39, 351. 

that ripen in early summer, 33. 

vitality of, 41. 



376 Index. 

Seeds will not germinate under water, Smoke, products condensed from, 153. 

22. — — season inti; by, 141, 

Selection, mode of cutting by, 96. when formed into cloud, 17. 

Sequoia (George Guess, notice of, Smooth- maple, 239. 

311, sumac, 297. 

<iic,rantea, 312, 313. Snow-ball bush, 269. 

rempervirens 41, 97, 312, 313. -drop, 270. 

Serpe, a tool so called, 60. a slow conductor of heat, 22. 

Service-tree, 93, 146, 264. drifting of, how prevented, 132, 

Sesia (one of the hawk-moths), 175. 133. 

Sessile leaves, 64. injuries from, 24. 

Seventeen-year locust, 180. on northern slopes, 9. 

Sex of blossoms, 28. slides in Rocky mountains, 24. 

Shad-bush 84. Soaking of seeds before planting, 35, 
Shade, how diflferent from covert, 39. 

101 Soap-berry, 255. 

Shading of seedlings, 40, 105. Societies of Foresters, 107. 

Shag-tree, 268. Sod, phmting on the, 52.- 

Shapes for ship-building, 102. Soda in alkaline soils, 6. 

Shears for pruning, 60. Soft-leaved willow, 280. 

Sheep, pasturage of in woodlands. Soft-woods, so called, 69, 104. 

l(3(j_ Soil, and its properties, 4. 

Shell-bark hickory, 146, 275. absorption and radiation of 

Shelter-belts, 132, 133, 134. heat by, 7. 

Shepardea argentea, 298. classification of, 6. 

eleagnoides, 129, 130, 131. color, and its effect, 7. 

Shin<'-lc-oiik 214- combination that secures fer- 

Shingles, from buried cedar, 306. tility, 5. 

Siiip building, curved timbers for, deeper at foot of hills, 7. 

102. effect of underlying rock, 7. 

live-oak reserved for, 218. evaporation from, 20. 

seastmin^'- of, 142. f(!i-tility, how maintained, 91. 

timber someLimes charred, 189. how it influences the growth of 

Short-leaved yellow pine, 329. ' trees, 5. 

Shrinkane from seasoning, 141. how placed in planting, 8. 

Shrub, definition of, 2. preparation for planting, 8. 

Shrubbery around dwellings, 28, 117 -tate of division, and its eff"ects, 6. 

llg. Solar heat, supposed cause of, 16. 

Sicilv, sumac of, 209. Solutions for preserving timber, 191. 

Signals in case of fires, 159. Sorrel-tree, 296. 

Silecious soils, 6. Sour-gum, 146, 268. 

Silk-worms, 180, 299. Sour-wood, 296. 

Siiver-bell tree, 270. South Carolina, pine belt in, 200. 

fir, 42, 151, 341, 342. Southern aspect, 10. 

-Lirain of wood, 67. catalpa, 290. 



leaf maple, 237. over-cup oak, 213. 

-poplar, 284. States, hedges in, 129. 



Sinclair process, in paper-making, injuries from clearings in, 27. 

206. trees of, 86. 

Slash pine, 328. Sowing of tree-seeds, 37. 

Slidin-;- banks, how held, 111. — season lor, 41. 

Sloe, 269. Spades, frame for transplanting with, 
Slope, angles of, 8, 9. 53. 

efiect of upon tree-growth, 9. Spain, the chestnut in, 78, 222, 224. 

Smoke of birch, used in curing hams, forests in, 83. 

229. forest administration in, 106. 



Index, 



377 



Spain, injuries from clearini:; in, 2G. 

School of Forestry in, 108. 

Spanish-oak, 218, 214. 
Span-worms, 183, 187. 
Species, definition of term, 2. 
names derived chiefly from 

L;itin, 4. 
Speciiic gravity of woods, 146. 
Sphinges, or hawk-moths, 174, 175. 
Spice-tree, 299. 
Spindle- tree, 292. 
Spirits of turpentine, 199. 
Sports, varieties in trees so called, 3. 
Spring, effect of frosts in, 24. 

sowing, 41, 44. 

transplanting, 44. 

layer of wood growth, 69. 

Springs, effect of woodlands upon, 

18. 
Sprouting of seeds, 35. 
Sprout-land<, chestnut, 221. 
Sprouts, reproduction of trees from, 

97. 
Spruce, cutting by selection, 96. 

Eurt^pean, 332. 

injuries to from insects, 168, 

172, 186. 

percentage of charcoal in, 151. 

period of full growth, 102, 105. 

pine, 329, 335. 

suitable for hedges, 128. 



Squares, planting in, 47. 

Stag-horn sumac, 297. 

Stamens, function of, 28, 29. 

Star-anise tree, not found in Califor- 
nia, 88. 

Starch in winter-cut wood, 137. 

Star-shake in timber, 143. 

Stearns, R. E. C, cited, 266. 

Stimulation of growth by removing 
outer bark, 62. 

Stinking yew, 315. 

Stipe, part of the pistil, 28. 

Stockholm, School of Forestry at, 
108. 

Stomata of leaves, 65. 

Strawberry tree, 292. 

Streets, rules for planting, 120. 

Strength of timber, 142. 

Striped-maple, 238. 

Structure of bark, 66, 73. 

of parts of the tree, 63, 64, 66. 

Stumps, preparation of for coppice 
growth, 98, 99. 

Styraceae, 270. 



Sub-soil, eflfect of on growth of trees, 

5. 
Suburban plantations, 124. 
Sugar, formed in germination, 35. 

in box-elder, 240. 

maple, 236. 

pine, 320. 

Sulphate of barytes in wood-preser- 
vation, 198. 

of copper, 195-198. 

of iron, 193. 

Sumac (genus Rhus), 84, 88, 297. 

production of, 46, 208, 209. 

Summer, cutting of wood in, 137, 

138. 
Swamp-laurel, 295. 

pine, 328, 337. 

white-oak, 212. 

Swamps, effect of upon water flow, 

18. 
Sweden, forests in, 83. 
Sweet-birch, 230. 

buckej'e, 254. 

gum, 146, 294. 

scented crab-tree, 261. 

Swietenia mahagonii, 298. 

Swine, fattening of in woodlands, 

104, 224. 
Switzerland, forests in, 183. 
Sycamore (genus Platanus), 9Z, 102, 

146, 251, 347. 

maple, seeds of, 33. 

Sylviculture, defined, 1. 

promotion of a taste for, 114. 

Symbols of the forester, 106, 
Syringa (genus), 273. 
Table-mountain pine, 329 
Tait, process for wood-preservation, 

198. 
Tamarack (Larix Americana), 344. 

— northern limit of, 89. 

Tamarisk, planted on dunes, 109. 

planted in hedges, ]29. 

Tan-barks, 100, 206, 207, 208 

alder, 231. 

hemlock, 335. 

Tanning, chestnut wood used in, 

223. 
c f Eussia leather with birch, 

229. 
Tap-roots, 43, 76. 
Tar-manufacture, 203. 

preserving qualities of, 190. 

Taxacese, 314. 
Taxesfi, Taxodiese, C04. 



378 



Index, 



Taxodiuni distichum, 41, 310. 
Taxus (s;eiius), 41, 303. 

baccata. 315. 

brevil'olia, 314. 

Canadensis, 314. 

Teak, rapidly grown, 71. 
Telea polyplienms, 180, 183. 
Tpleirrapli poles, turned to trees, 56. 
Tension of vapor (absolute humidity), 

12. 
Terminal buds, 03. 
Terraces for planting slopes, 110, 111. 
Territories, privileges of inhabitants, 

95. 
Tes^aria boreal is, 208. 
Tests of vitality of seeds, 36. 
1'exas buckeye, 255. 
Tharand, School of Forestry at, 108. 
Tiiennomeiers, earth, 21. 
Thiek-shell-bark hickory, 275. 
Thilmany, process for preserving, 

198. 
Thinning of woodlands, 50, 58, 97, 

103. 

as practiced in Scotland, 112. 

Thoreau, Henry D., cited, 32. 
Thor?i-tree, 264. 

Thoroughfares in parks, 125, 126. 
Thuja (genus), 41, 303-307. 

excelsa, 307. 

gigantea, 306. 

Liwsoniana. 307. 

occidentalis, 123, 303, 305. 

oi'ientalis (hedge plant), 128. 

sphaeroedaiis, 305. 

wood ( CallUrts), 76, 304. 

Ties for railroads, season for cutting, 

100. 
Tiliacese (natural order), 240. 
Tilia (genus), 240. 
alba, 24 L 

Americana, 241. 

Europea, 241. 

grandi folia, 241. 

heteriiphvlla, 241. 

parvifolia, 241, 242. 

p.ibescens, 241. 

T.m be r- beetles, 171. 
Timber-culture acts, 91, 354. 

defects of, 143. 

lands, sale of, 95. 

line, 25. 

marks, scars of, 74. 

railroad companies may use, 94. 



Tipula saliciperda, on willows, 283. 

Tomicus (a spi-uce insect), 187. 

Toronto, humidity of air at, 15. 

Torrents, restoration of injuries from, 
110. 

Torreya (genus), 41, 304. 

(. alift)rnica. 315. 

tiixifolia, 315. 

Torrified wood, 153. 

Tortrices, Tortrix, (leaf-rollers), 171, 
178. 

Tracing roots, 76, 

Transient persons build no monu- 
ments, 116. 

Transplanting, 42. 

from lorests 51. 

from seed-beds, 42. 

of large trees, 55. 

• spring or fall, 44. 

without disturbing the roots, 

52, 54. 

Treaty-tree, historical interest of, 
115. 

Tree, definition of, 2. 

culture, entry of land for, 91. 

hoppers, 174. 

of lleaven [Ailatithus), 288. 

planting in Kansas and Ne- 
braska, 316. 

on timber-claims, 91, 354. 

railroad, 134. 



Time for cutting wood, 98, f37, 138. 
Tineae, or clothing-moths, 178. 



Trees, allowed under timber-culture 

acts, 98. 
eflect of upon dew, 16. 

large, transplanting of, 55. 

mode of growth, 2, 

number on a given area, 49, 

50. 

Triangular order of planting, 48. 

Trimming, when advisable, 59. 

of t^tumps, to i'avor sprouts, 98. 

Trois Fontaines, Eucalyptus planta- 
tion at, 267. 

Tropics, height of timber-line in, 25. 

Tropical woods, eccentric growth of, 
75. 

layers of growth obscure, 

69. 

Truffle, growth of over oak roots, 78. 

Trunk and branches, growth of, 74. 

Tsuga (genus), 41, 304, 335. 

Canadensis, 128, 207, 335. 

Caroliniana, 336. 

Mertensiana, 336. 

Pattoniana, 336. 

Tubingen, School of Forestry at, 108. 



Index. 



379 



Tulip-trec, 88, 89, 93, 250. 
Tun^rstate of liihe etc., 193. 
Tupelo {Nyssa), 258. 
Turkey, forests in, 83. 

injuries trom clearins^s in, 26. 

Turpentine, from pines, 109, 199, 201, 

330. 
Tnskaloosa. called the " Druid City," 

123. 
Tussock-caterpillar, 180. 
Twistod-branch pine, 325. 
Ulmus (genus), 243, 346. 

alata, 245. 

Americana, 146, 243. 

campestris, 46, 127, 245. 

effusa. 136. 

fulva, 244, 245. 

i\l( ntana, 247. 

suberosa, 136. 

Umbrellaria Californiea, 298, 299. 
Ungnadia speeiosa, 255. 
Uniforms worn by forest-agents, 106. 
Universities, Forestry taught in, 108. 
Upland-willovv-oak, 212, 214. 

Ural willow, 280. 

Utah, privilege of citizens of, 95. 

Vaccinium corymbusum, heating 
qualities of, 146. 

Valley-Forge, succession of timber 
at, 90. 

Vallombrosa, School of Forestry at, 
108. 

Valonia, 206. 

Value of farms increased by plant- 
ing, 119. 

of woods for heating, 146, 

Vanilla, artificial, from pine sap, 204. 

Varieties, perpetuated by gralting, 
etc., 46. 

Vegetable soil, 4. 

Vegetation, agency of water in, 22. 

Venice, piles charred in, 189. 

Ventilation hindered by close plant- 
ing, 118. 

Vessels, salt used for preserving, 
192. 

sunk to preserve them, 191. 

Viburnum (genus), 88, 269. 

lentag(i, 269. 

opulus. 269. 

• prunifblium, 269. 

Victoria, Douglas fir in, 338. 

myall, 260. 

Vielles ecorces (reserves so called), 
101. 



Vigilance alone can prevent fires, 

156. 
Vienna, Ringbahn at, 125. 

School of Forestry at, 107. 

Village-improvement, 119, 122. 
Vilmorin, plantation of pines by, 

320. 
Vinegar from maple sap, 237. 
Vine-maple, 239. 
Vines, growth of how influenced by 

soil, 7. 
Virgila lutea, 2C0. 
Virginia, sumac in, 209. 
Vitality of seeds, 36, 41. 
Vitruvius, cited, 138, 140. 
Volatile products of combustion, 151, 

153. 
Volter, process for wood-pulp, 205. 
Vosges, summer the season for cut- 
ting in, 137. 
"Walnut family, 273. 
trees, 38, 51, 84, 89, 347, 348, 

350. 
Ward's Peak, timber-line on, 25, 
Warder, Dr. John A., on catalpa, 

291. 
Warping fi-om seasoniuL'', 141. 
Warring, Geo. E., jr., cited, 123. 
Washington Ter., sale of timber in, 

95. 
Wasps, 179. 

Waste of timber, 88, 89. 
Water, agency of in vegetation, 22. 

ash, 272. 

beech, 233. 

bittern ut-hickory, 275. 

composition of, 23. 

distribution of seeds by, 32. 

in newlj^-cut wood, 138, 139. 

locust, 259. 

oak, 213, 214. 

pipes filled with roots, 76, 77, 

J 19. 



sour-gum used for, 268. 

supplies aliment to roots, 23, 
-supply of cities, 18. 
wood submei-ged in, 191. 



Watering of seed-beds, 40. 
Wattles (Acacias), 259, 260. 
Wayside planting, 119. 
Web-worms, 181. 
Weeding, necessity of, 40, 56. 
W^eevils^ 171, 183, 185, 186. 
Weight lost in drying, 139. 
of charcoal to a cord, 151. 



;80 



Index. 



Weight of woods, 146. 
"Wnisswassor, School of Forestry at, 

107. 
Wellinsjtonia (see Sequoia), 812. 
Wells, filled with roots, 76, 77, 119. 

woodlands aflect depths of 

water in, 18. 

Western aspect, 10. 
balsam fir, 840. 

birch, 280. 

chinquapin, 224. 

juniper. 809. 

larch, 843. 

mountain ash, 262. 

pitch-tree, 337. 

scrub-pine, 325. 

silver-fir 339, 340. 

States, trees of, 86. 

yellow pine, 323. 

yew, 814. 

Wet and dry bulb thermometer, 12, 

13, 14. 
Weymouth pine, 319. 
Wheat-flies, 179. 
White alder, 233. 
ants, 174. 

ash, 271. 

balsam, 339. 

bark pine, 322. 

beech, 227. 

birch (Bchda), 229. 

(fuigus Solandri), 228. 

cedars, 128, 303, 304, 307. 

elm, 243. 

fir, 839. 

heart hickory, 275. 

oaks, 90, 211, 212, 213, 216. 

pines (general group of), 317. 

pine, 86, 87 818, 820, 348, 349. 

■ {Flcea Engelmannii), 334. 

region cf N. W., 87. 

weevil, 186. 

poplar, 284. 

spruce, 332, 340. 

walnut, 93. 

. willow, 93, 279, 280. 

wood, 93, 250 

Whortleberries, heating qualities of 

wood, 146. 
Wild animals, injuries to trees by, 

160. 

olive, 273. 

trees, transplanting of, 51. 

Willow family, 277, 278, 347-349. 
■ as nurses for other trees, 38. 



Willow, Bedford, 279. 

Dutch, 283. 

gray or white, 347. 

grows Irom sprouts, 98. 

hybrid, 3. 

insects injurious to, 185. 

leaved poplar, 288. 

oak, 212, 214. 

osier, 280. 

pistilato flower of, 81. 

planted on dunes, 109. 

with walnuts, 51. 

roots seek water, 75, 77, 119. 

white, 000. 

Windinsr paths in parks, 125. 
Wind-bVeaks, 22. 

dispersion of seeds b}', 81. 

effect in fertilizing blossoms, 29. 

on different aspects, 9, 10. 

-river mountains, timber-line 



on, 26. 
Wine from birch sap, 229. 
Wings upon seeds, 31. 
Winter, cutting of wood in, 98. 

severe cold of and eff'ect, 23. 

Wire for bracing trees, 55. 

for hedges, 181. 

Wisconsin, forests of, 87. 

grub-|traii'ies in, 52. 

timber in., 87. 

Witch-hazel, 88, 146. 



Wood-boring insects, 164, 165, 
167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173, 
182, 187. 

chips for mulching, 56. 

drying and seasoning of, 



166, 
180, 



139. 



140. 



gas, preparation of, 154. 



Woodlands, areas of in Europe, 83. 

eff'ect of upon rain, 17, 18. 

temperature, 21. 

proportion to fields, 82. 

ruin caused by cutting, 26. 

paper manufacture, cultivation 

for, 205. 
Wood-lice, 174. 

peckers, useful labors of, 187. 

-spirits from smoke, 158. 

structure, 66, 67, 68, 69, 74. 

texture when grown in wet 

places, 22. 
wasps, 174. 



Wounds of trees, 59, 74. 
Wrecks preserved in water, 191. 
Wych elm, 247. 



Index. 381 

Wyoming, privilege of citizens of, Yellow oak. 212. 

yo. pine, 325. 

Xerobotrys glauca, 289. heavy, 323, 325. 

Xyloborus, 187. poplar, 250. 

Xyloterus, 187. wood, 87, 88, 260. 

Yaupon, 293. Yew family, 84, 304, 314. 

Yellow birch, 230. Young trees from forests, 51. 

cedar, 307. Zeuzera sesculi, 175. 

cypress, 307. Zurich, School of Forestry at, 108. 



PUBLISHED BT ROBERT CLARKE & CO 



A NEW EDITION 

OF 

The Principles and Practice 

OF 

Land Drainage; 

Embracing a brief History of XJiiderdrain'ing : 

A detailed examination of its Operation and Advantages; 

A description of various kinds of Drains^ with 

Practical Directions for their Construction ; 

The Manufacture of Drain Tile^ etc. 



ILLUSTRATED BY NEARLY loo ENGRAVINGS. 



By JOHN H. KLIP PART, 

Author of the "Wheat Plant;" Corresponding Secretary of the Ohio State 
Board of Agriculture, etc. 

2nd Edition, i Vol. i2mo., Cloth, Price, $1.75. 



Within the last few years the subject of Drainage has been 
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ceived but little attention from farmers generally ; so little, 
indeed, that when occasionally intelligent men undertake the 
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farms, and the increased quantity and superior quality of their 



KUpparfs Land Drainage, 



crops, however, soon convince even the least observant of the 
profit of burying money in this way. No doubt much money 
may be and has been expended fruitlessly in ill applied drain- 
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have been attained, can be secured by every one who under- 
takes the drainage of his farm. The purpose of this work is 
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erties of his soil, and how it is alFected by drainage; what 
kind of land needs drainage, when and why it will pay. 
Some of the advantages of underdraining are summed up and 
thoroughly explained under the following heads : 

1. It removes stagnant waters from the surface. 

2. It removes surplus waters from under the surface. 

3. It lengthens the working season. 

4. It deepens the soil. 

5. It warms the undersoil. 

6. It equalizes the temperature of the soil during the sea- 
son of growth. 

7. It carries down soluble substances to the roots of the 
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8. It prevents "freezing out," "heaving out," or "win- 
ter killing." 

9. It prevents injury from drouth. 

10. It improves the quantity and quality of crop; it in- 
creases the effect of manures. 

11. It prevents rust in wheat and rot in potatoes. 
These advantages arc not suppositions, but are proved by 

the actual experience of intelligent men, which is given in 
detail. 

In the second part of the book are given practical direc- 
tions for the location, cutting, and laying of the various kinds 
of drains, according to the position and cjuality of the land ; 



Klippjrfs Land Drainage. 



modes of preventing and removing obstructions in drains; 
descriptions of the tools, the various improved pbws, and 
other inventions used in the operations; and of the several 
kinds of tile, their respective advantages, and minute direc- 
tions for their manufacture, including the selection and work 
ing of the materials, molding, drying and baking of the tile, 
etc., etc. 

The whole is illustrated with nearly a hundred engravings 
af sections of drains, tile, implements, etc. 

The work is thorough and comprehensive, and supplies 
the farmer with all the information which he must possess 
before he can intelligently and profitably commence opera- 
tions. It ought to be in the hands of every farmer in the 
country. 

It is handsomely printed and well bound in cloth. 



NOTICES OF THE WORK 



From the North-Western Farmer^ Indianapolis. 

In answer to a query from a subscriber, on- the subject of 
drainage, the editor says: 

"Underdraining is a pet theme with us. We advise our subscribers to get 
I copy of John H. Klippart's work on Land-Drainage, which is undoubt- 
•dly the most comprehensive and reliable work, on the subject extant. The 
Publishers, Robert Clarke & Co., of Cincinnati, have just issued a new and 
mproved edition of the book, which anticipates and answers every question 
Dur subscriber has, or can well laise, on the subject of drainage, and no 
'armer can well afford to be without a copy." 

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" This is a very comprehensive work, in regard to the history and advan- 
tages of drainage, and will be found highly useful to most of our farmers. 
We recommend this book as worthy the attention of all farm'-.rs, who are 
nterested in the subject or land-drainage." 



Klipparfs Land Drainage, 



From the Chicago Fanners Advocate. 

" We hail with pleasure the appearance of this work. The au- 
thor — who, by the waj-^, is one of the most distinguished agricul- 
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Price, ---.-.--..- $1.75 

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T7INEYARD 
^ /CULTURE, 

IMPROVED AND CHEAPENED. 

By a. Du Breuil, 

professor of viticulture and arboriculture in 
the royal school of arts and trades, paris, 

Translated by E. and C. Parker, 
of longworth's wine house. 

FTith Notes and Adaptations to American Cultur^,^ 

By John A. Warder, 

AUTHOR OF "AMERICAN POMOLOGY/' 

144 Tllustf^tions. 

I vol. l2mo. Cloth, extra, - - - - $2 qo 

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This volume contains the substance of the Lectures deliv- 
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Royal School of Arts and Trades. They are eminently Drat- 
tical. and are a thorough exposition ot the mosc aoDrcvt^ 



c o ]sr T E isr T s . 



INTRODUCTION 

PAGE. 

Chap. I— General Remarks on Wine Making- l-ll 

Chap. II— Definition of Words frequently used in the Book 11-14 

Chap. Ill— Preparations for Wine Making ; 14-17 

Chap. IV— The Vintage 17-24 

Chap. V— When Grapes are Ripe 24-30 

Chap. VI— Picking and Culling Grapes 30-33 

Chap. VII— The Crape Juice : ''2fust " 33-37 

Chap. VIII— The Ingredients of "3Iust" 37-40 

Chap. IX— Improvement of ''Jfiisf' 40-47 

Chap. X— Fermentation 47-00 

Chap. XI— Changes through Fermentation 60-G4 

Chap. XII— Keeping Wine in the Cellar 64-72 

Chap. XIII— Bottling Wine 72-74 

Chap. XIV— Sweet Wines 74-77 

Chap. XV— Sparkling Wines 77-82 

Chap. XVI— Heating or Firing Wines 82, 83 

Chap. XVII— Spiced Wines 83 

Chap. XVIII— Frozen Wines 84, 85 

Chap. XIX— Wine Colors 86-88 

Chap. XX— Constituents of Wine 88-92 

Chap. XXI— To remove Acidity from Wine 92-93 

Chap. XXII— Artificial Wines 93-95 

Chap, XXIII— Ailments of Wines 96, 97 

Chap. XXIV— Surrogates— Fruit Wines 97-101 

Chap. XXV— Cider 101-103 

Chap. XXVI— Pear Wine 103 

Chap. XXVII— Prune and Plum Wine 104 

Chap. XXVIII— Cherry Wine 104, 105 

Chap. XXIX— Gooseberry Wine 105 

Chap. XXX— Currant Wine •. .100 

Chap. XXXI— Berry Wines generally 107 

Chap. XXXII— Wines from Juices of Trees and Plants 108, 109 

Chap. XXXIII— Uses of Oflfal 109,110 

Chap. XXXIV— Imitation Wines Ill, 112 

Conclusion 113 



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